Three Events
by Catygirl
Summary: Three events seemingly unconnected and occurring in various locations across the world, were about to send the United States into complete turmoil. This is an SG1 team adventure fic which has our favourite team trying to solve this complex mystery.
1. Chapter 1

Three Events

 _AN: Hi folks, this is my new multi-chapter story. It has taken over a year to come together and its almost finished. However, I really wanted to get it out on the site so I am starting to post it now. I hope you all enjoy it. It's not really a romance, very much a full team fic so will hopefully appeal to everyone. Enjoy._

 **Three events seemingly unconnected and occurring in various locations across the world, were about to send the United States into complete turmoil.**

SGCSGCSGCSGC

It was 0500, and the drive from Inverness airport seemed to be never ending. He had an appointment to keep. It wasn't one that wouldn't be written in any diary, or at least he absolutely hoped it wasn't written down anywhere. He'd flown here under the radar. No one apart from the President and his team knew where he was and he'd be happy if it stayed that way.

He was heading for an RAF base on the northeast coast of Scotland. It was the last place you'd ever look for something that could change everything, but it could be the best place to keep a secret.

The road was quiet, still very dark given it was late October, and he could barely see 50 feet in front of him due to the _har_ that had come in off the sea. Or at least that was what the cabin crew had called the same thick mist that had made his flight over an hour late. It was a good job that he'd left plenty of time before his meeting. He'd tried to call to tell them he'd be late but hadn't gotten through.

He could feel his gut twisting. There was something wrong but he couldn't quite put a finger on what it was. He continued to focus on the road ahead, although his eye was caught every so often by lights behind him. He slowed down a little, putting a little honey into any trap that was waiting for him. As he'd expected, the lights backed off and didn't come any closer, typical actions of someone who was following him. He sped up a little, but not obviously, and took the corner on the way into the hamlet of Brodie. Quickly, without thinking too much, he turned left, off the road, into a car park situated amongst the trees. He killed the lights immediately, then the engine, and then he waited. It didn't take long, perhaps half a minute, but they came, three unmarked cars travelling in convoy, making their way through the mist. So perhaps his trip wasn't as under the radar as he'd hoped.

SGCSGCSGCSGC

It was a hot, humid and, to her mind, disgustingly sticky afternoon in Cairns, Australia. She was here for a meeting, one that her contact had called her to and, to her surprise, had been ordered to attend by someone above the General in the Airforce. She didn't like that, didn't like the fact that she was away from her safe place, away from her team. However, she'd been allowed to choose the location of the meeting. She'd chosen a small hotel, one that rarely got a mention on the tourist circuit but that she'd found on a previous trip. She'd chosen not to stay at the hotel, despite her superiors expecting that. Her gut was now telling her that it was one of the best decisions she'd ever made.

On leaving the States her travel plans had been scrutinised by someone with computer access to the SGC. Fortunately, she'd caught the hack into her system and had had enough time to make alternative hotel plans when she'd arrived in the north Australian city. She had no real idea why her contact had wanted her here but she was beginning to suspect that she wasn't supposed to make the meeting and, by the looks of the dead body she spotted through the French doors at the back of the hotel, her contact wasn't supposed to make it, either.

SGCSGCSGCSGC

In northern France, two men walked along the wide path that led to the large Canadian monument that in daylight could be seen high on the ridge from miles around. Even tonight, the two huge white limestone pillars, as well as the broad platform on which they stood, gleamed brightly in the autumn moonlight. The men weren't here to view this spectacular sight, however, nor were they there to pay their respects to the lives of the men who'd died almost a century before who were listed on the wall of the monument. They were there to meet someone.

They'd met the contact online while researching their doctoral dissertations and had been surprised when the man they'd been studying had actually agreed to meet them. When they'd told their professor, he'd said they were crazy to give credence to anything the man said. A man who had, a decade earlier, been discredited by the entire archaeological community. However, the two students had thought there was a need to meet their hero. Besides, they'd done their own research and now needed to tell him what they'd discovered.

As they walked along the flat path towards the monument, the moonlight made it easy for them to see a man standing to the side the monument, someone who'd clearly been trained to be on the lookout for danger as he continually checked the surrounding countryside as they approached. Therefore it was he, not the two younger men, who spotted the sniper taking careful aim at them.

 **AU: More to come very soon, I promise.**


	2. Chapter 2: Jack and Sam

_AU: Here is chapter 2, so you are not kept waiting too long._

 _Jack_

Jack drove his rental car out of the darkened car park several minutes after the three unmarked cars had passed him. He'd made sure to memorise several routes from the airport and set the satnav to the coastal route, which was the easiest alternative route to navigate in the dark. He set off, following the directions, and within seconds was off the main road and following a meandering road that would take him to his destination. He'd gotten lost just before reaching the small village of Kinloss but was quickly back on course and after that it was plain sailing and his tail never reappeared.

He was now approaching the RAF base at Lossiemouth from the west and had a good view of the large hangers that had been uncovered by the slowly evaporating mist. Of course, it would've taken more than mist to cover the massive explosion that ripped through the hanger at the edge of the base.

Jack's eyes opened wide when he saw the huge fireball engulf one of the hangers then he braked quickly when the shock wave hit, the noise reverberating around the coast closest to him. The hanger was burning furiously, with flames licking at the sides of the other buildings. He could already hear the alarms and sirens going off as the base awoke quickly to an attack of some nature. He now had to make a split-second decision. He could either continue on to the base, report in, and see if this attack was meant for him – he was late, after all. Or, he could go somewhere else, keep his head down, and assume that he'd been the target.

Jack had enough experience with black ops to know that if it quacked like a duck and swam like a duck then the chances were it was a duck! So, before anyone could close the roads or check to see if he'd actually been on the base when the explosion had occurred, he drove on past the base and the burning hanger. He had to find some place to lie low, and find it fast.

Just the other side of Lossiemouth, Jack turned off the road so he could spend some time working out where to go next. He'd deliberately switched his satellite phone off before setting off from the airport but, after the explosion, he now decided to switch it on just in case he needed it. He was also glad he had made sure to check the car for bugs with a gizmo that Carter had created for just these sort of occasions. Only Jack wasn't too sure what this sort of occasion was.

Jack had been ordered by the owner of the red phone to travel to Scotland and meet the British UN representative for the Gate Treaty Alliance. He'd been told to take a commercial flight using a fake passport. He'd also been ordered to leave his real ID in the States but he wasn't that stupid so he'd at least had his real passport with him, plus two others – neither of which the government, President or the Air Force knew about.

Having Carter around always meant he got the benefit of her intelligence, and this case was no different. For someone without black ops experience, she was unbelievably paranoid. Ever since that issue with the foothold situation a few years ago, she'd been developing plans for undercover missions. All of SG-1 had 3 different identities, including their real one. They had bank accounts that didn't link back to them and they all owned a satellite phone, not your normal one, no one that Carter had made, for cryin' out loud. It made him even more grateful for his incredible 2IC. He briefly wondered how she was faring on the other side of the world. He didn't like his team being split up.

Jack shook his head. He could still hear the sirens in the distance and wondered if the ambassador from the UN had been involved. He had no proof that their meeting had been the target, only the feeling in his gut. The President had been vague when he'd given the order for Jack to fly to Britain. He'd made it clear that the British had found something that Jack should check out. Jack had assumed that it was nothing historical or technical, or else the wrong SG-1 member had been sent. But there was something not right about the whole thing. Jack wondered if what had been found was some kind of weapon and it had malfunctioned. His thoughts were cut short when his satellite phone suddenly rang.

SGCSGCSGCSGC

 _Sam_

Looking through the window, Sam looked at the poor man with a bullet through his head, lying in a pool of blood in the hotel room. Judging by the state of his head and the amount of blood surrounding him that he was dead, she turned and quickly moved away from the window, careful not to touch anything so no one could place her at the scene. She needed to get away from here, and now.

Sam moved quietly through the hotel gardens, keeping to the edge of the path and making sure that she wasn't caught on camera. She'd picked this hotel for the meeting for several reasons, one of which was that they weren't too hot on surveillance. Sure, they monitored check-in and the front doors of the 7 apartments, but the area surrounding the pool was no longer monitored, something to do with a voyeur receptionist and skimpy bikinis.

Barely glancing at the pool, Sam continued on to the back gate. When she reached it, she carefully opened the gate and surveyed the street, making sure she couldn't be seen then, not seeing anyone, she slid through the opening and jogged the couple of blocks to her waiting rental car. Once she was sitting in the fantastically air-conditioned vehicle, she reached for her tablet to check over all the information she'd been given for this meeting. She'd disabled the WiFi and GPS on the device as soon as she'd clocked the hack on her travel plans. Unfortunately, that meant she couldn't access any information, not even her email. All she had was the information she'd downloaded before her flight.

Sam had been ordered to the north Australian city by the Air Force, although not by General Hammond, who'd had no idea why she was to travel, and she'd been ordered to go alone. This had sent her spidery senses tingling, especially when she'd checked in with the Colonel and he'd been given separate orders to Scotland. She'd tried to refuse and Hammond had demanded backup but all to no avail. Sam had to meet this person alone. The security of the nation depended on it – apparently.

So Sam had booked her flight. It had had to be a commercial flight. Again, something that had worried her. She knew it was easier for someone to follow her on a commercial database than a military one, as you needed quite a high clearance to follow a Major who had top secret clearance when she travelled on military transport. So she'd also ensured that she'd brought her other IDs with her, as well as her satellite phone. Sam knew that her team thought she was crazy - the colonel had a good laugh about her 'James Bond' gadgets and fake ID's all the time and teased her mercilessly - but she needed the security behind her, the knowledge that she, and her entire team, could disappear without trying at a moment's notice.

Sam looked over the open document on her tablet. She'd been told that a man had information for her about a discovery made by scientists studying the Great Barrier Reef. She hadn't been told whether it was an object or a problem with the reef itself, although neither suggested that she should be the one who had to speak to the contact. She'd been told that all would become clear when she and the contact met but so far the only thing to be made clear was that she was in danger, a whole heap of danger.

After putting the tablet down on the passenger seat in the rental vehicle, Sam pulled away from the kerb, deciding that she'd never get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. As she drove, she wondered how the Colonel was coping with driving on the other side of the road in Scotland. Knowing him, he'd probably been cursing and swearing at all the other drivers who were coming towards him on the _wrong_ side. Smiling at that idea, Sam continued through the centre of the city and out towards the countryside. She needed to get off the road and find somewhere to lie low for a bit. She had a plan of how to get out of Australia and already had two flights booked with her other IDs, one to New Zealand the other direct to LA. Sam Carter, on the other hand, had a flight booked from Cairns to Canberra, supposedly to meet with a Colonel in the Australian Air Force, although now she had no intention of making that meeting.

Sam was engrossed in studying her surroundings when she suddenly heard a sound and saw a light blinking under the passenger seat. She had enough experience with bombs to know what was going on so she quickly pulled over, grabbed her duffel and her tablet, and bolted from the car. She ran as fast as she could, getting almost 50 metres away before the bomb exploded. She was floored by the power of the explosion but thankfully far enough away to not be hurt.

Several things flashed through Sam's mind at once. Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, they knew what car she was driving, which could have been accomplished in several ways. Did they have a spy at the rental place? Did they have a tracking device in her car? Or, more worryingly, did they have someone following her? Perhaps they had all three. It was at that point that she realised she needed to get off the road and far away from the now burning car. The second thing to cross her mind was that she was supposed to have died twice today. Sam had no doubt that had she been with the contact earlier, she would've been shot, and now she should've been incinerated. She needed to avoid another incident as she might not be third time lucky. Finally, there was now a deep-rooted fear that this was something bigger than her, and the rest of her team could be in very serious danger.

 **AU: So that's the military part of the team. Daniel and Teal'c will be here tomorrow. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3: Daniel and Teal'c

**AN: I'm so pleased you are enjoying this story. Here is chapter 3 and Daniel and Teal'c's adventures.**

 _Daniel and Teal'c_

"Drop!" Teal'c shouted from the side of the monument, his arms waving wildly in a very unjaffa-like manner.

As the first shot rang out across the plateau, the two students dropped to the ground and scurried for cover, aiming for the stairs that led up to the large platform at the base of the monument and the safety of its surrounding wall. Just as they reached the top and were flinging themselves behind the wall, more shots could be heard, both from the man who had warned them and from behind them. The shots echoed around the area and both young men were seriously considering whether meeting their hero was worth getting caught up in this shootout. What were they getting into?

Mercifully the shooting stopped and within a few minutes a second strange man in green fatigues crawled behind the wall to see if the two students were still alive.

"Any injuries?"

The two young men looked terrified and Daniel understood that. To him gunfire was an unfortunate norm but to them this was a whole new ballgame.

"Dr Jackson?" asked one of the men with a fearful voice. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, sorry about the welcome committee. Someone obviously doesn't want us to meet."

Teal'c moved from where he had been returning fire, to stand beside the other three, continuing to look across the open space for any threats. "DanielJackson, it appears our meeting has been discovered."

"Yeah, I know. What are our options, Teal'c?"

"They are clearly firing from the trees to our left. However, it would appear they have stopped firing to move and find a more advantageous position. Our only option is to continue to the other side of the monument and abandon our vehicle."

"Guess it's a good thing you told me to empty the trunk, then, huh?" Daniel smiled wryly.

"Doctor Jackson, what's going on?" one of the young men asked.

Daniel evaded the question. "So, which of you is Ryan?"

"Me, Sir," replied the one who hadn't spoken yet.

"I'm not in the military. Just call me Daniel. And who's your friend?"

"Sorry, this is my research colleague, Joe. We both made the discovery."

"Yes, and I think that discovery is why the shooting started," Daniel said dryly. "Okay, Teal'c, you take point. The moon's gone behind the clouds for now so let's get moving."

Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I sometimes listen when Jack's giving orders. We need to find safety." Daniel turned to the students. "Did you leave anything about this in your car?"

"No," Ryan replied. "We followed your instructions and only brought carry-ons that we have with us."

"Good. At least we don't need to worry about losing information to the enemy."

"Enemy!" Joe spat. "I didn't sign up for an enemy."

"You didn't have to sign up," Daniel replied, eyeing the young man. "As soon as you contacted me about your discovery there was a chance of something like this happening. Now you have no choice. Come with us or be tortured and killed for the research you did. What will it be?"

The two students looked at each other. "We're coming with you," Ryan answered for both of them.

"Good. Let's go."

The four men went carefully down the stairs, sticking as close to the side as possible to minimise their exposure, then hugged the wall surrounding the monument, heading in the opposite direction from where the shots had been fired. Teal'c took point, followed by the two young students, with Daniel bring up the rear. Teal'c was grateful that the full moon had been covered by dark clouds. They wouldn't have managed any escape if the sky had stayed clear. He continued slowly along the side of the monument, keeping an eye on the situation. When he reached the corner, he carefully peered around, trying to see an escape route, and spotted movement on the plateau below the memorial, directly where Teal'c had planned to lead the others.

He stopped suddenly, hoping that he was wrong and they were not in the process of being surrounded. He knew that Daniel Jackson could survive a situation like this but having two novices meant he would have to plan their escape carefully. He signalled for the others to return the way they had come. They were not going to escape this way. They had to turn back.

"DanielJackson," Teal'c whispered.

"Yeah, Teal'c," Daniel replied just as quietly, "What do you see?"

"Company. We must retreat."

"They'll have left someone with the vehicles."

"Of that I am certain, but we will die if we continue in this direction."

The four men turned to head back the way they'd come, the two young students looking terrified but willingly doing what they were told. When they reached the path that led to the carpark, Daniel waited for Teal'c to take point again. It was open ground from their position to the vehicles and, although the gunfire hadn't come from that direction, it seemed obvious that someone would be making their way there. However, it was still pitch black and Teal'c believed they had no other option. There was definitely an enemy behind them and to their left, of that they were certain, but they had no evidence of one in the carpark, so they had no choice but to head there.

"DanielJackson, we must make haste." Teal'c broke into a jog as he crossed the flat area between the monument and the carpark. They made it to the outer wall of the memorial park, but both Daniel and Teal'c knew It wouldn't take long for the fact that they'd turned around and headed to the carpark to be noticed. Teal'c quickly herded the group across the drive towards their vehicle in the otherwise empty car park, still hearing nothing from their unwanted visitors. When they were literally only 10 metres from Daniel and Tealc's car, shots began to ring out again.

"Run!" Daniel shouted as the shooting started in earnest.

They made it to the vehicle and everyone jumped in.

"Let's get out of here, Teal'c," Daniel said quickly as Teal'c hit the accelerator and they sped out of the gravel carpark, tires spinning and gravel flying.

"Doctor Jackson," Ryan said from the backseat, "I think I've been shot." He lifted his left hand up from where it had been pressing on his right upper arm and looked at the blood on his hand.

"Crap," Daniel replied, quickly glancing back at Ryan.

"Indeed," said Teal'c as he drove like crazy.

Daniel looked at Teal'c and then started looking for the map of the area that he'd bought at the petrol station earlier that day, quickly locating it. He clumsily folded it to show their current location and started looking for the best route to get them all to safety. "Do you need a hospital?" Daniel asked the man in the back without taking his eyes from the map.

"Of course he does!" Joe fumed. "He's been shot! Have you ever been shot?"

"Well, yes, actually, and if it's a through and through he probably won't need a hospital, especially if the bone isn't broken."

"You're as insane as our professor said you would be before we left."

Teal'c immediately slammed on the brakes and both he and Daniel whipped around in their seats.

Daniel, ice cold, growled, "My instructions were perfectly clear. If we met up you were to tell no one. Who else did you tell?"

"Tell me you told no one, Joe, please," Ryan all but moaned.

"Whom did you tell, young man!" Teal'c's voice boomed in the small vehicle.

"They made me tell them," Joe whimpered. "They said we'd be in danger if we didn't."

Daniel took a deep breath, feeling a little sympathy for the student, then focussed again. "Did you give them access to your research?"

"No, never! We downloaded everything on to the laptop that we brought with us and deleted the original multiple times."

"What did they make you tell them? And who are they?" Daniel asked.

 **AN: So the scene is set. The adventure will continue very soon.**


	4. Chapter 4: Getting Together

Chapter 4: Getting together

Jack looked at the large brick-type phone ringing on the passenger seat of his rental car. To answer or not to answer, that was the question. He flashed back to when Carter had handed him the phone.

" _What's this?" he'd asked._

" _It's a satellite phone, Sir. It'll allow us to stay in touch without anyone else knowing."_

" _You sure?"_

" _Yes, Sir. I made them a while back and, well, I think we might need them on these missions, especially as we're being split up."_

Boy, had she been correct.

However, there was one problem with this 'Carter special' phone it had no screen so Jack had no idea who was calling him. As far as he was aware, it could only be Carter or Danny and, given that it was the middle of the night here and in France, he hoped it was Carter who'd forgotten the time difference and not Daniel in trouble.

Jack cautiously answered. "O'Neill."

"Sir, I'm in trouble." Jack's heart thudded to the ground. It was the worst news he could have heard.

"Calm down, Carter. Tell me what's happened."

"Sir, my contact's been shot, my rental was bombed, and now I'm trying to get back to the airport while hoping that no one's following me."

Crap, thought Jack. "Carter, the RAF base where I was supposed to have the meeting was bombed." He gave it to her straight. Might as well be honest about the situation they were both in. "Lucky my flight was delayed. Don't know if the contact I was supposed to meet was so lucky."

"Do you think they're connected?" Sam said, clearly concerned about this turn of events.

"Yeah, too much of a coincidence. We can't talk on these phones, though, Carter, just in case." He paused for a minute, considering their next move, "Time to go to Plan C."

"Are you sure, Sir?"

"Yeah, it's the only thing to do. I'll call Daniel. Radio silence, Major."

"Yes, Sir. See you soon, Sir. Stay safe."

"You, too, Carter." Jack hung up the phone and swore several times. It was bad enough that he'd been the victim of an attack but not Carter, not her. He was about to call Daniel when the phone rang for the second time.

"O'Neill."

"Jack, it's Daniel. We were ambushed."

Jack sighed. Could this day get any worse? "Danny, we're going to Plan C."

"Really? Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"Daniel, you were ambushed, my meeting was bombed, and Carter's rental was blown up. Plan C is what we're doing."

"Okay, Jack. Counting down from now."

"Good. O'Neill out."

Jack quickly rummaged through his carry-on luggage and found the device he was looking for. He'd been given this in case of a dire emergency. Only 7 people in the world knew that he had it, and it was thanks to a little grey alien that it was available and that it would work. He pressed the top button on the egg-shaped device and it crackled to life. All he had to do was say four words. "Plan C. Twenty minutes."

There was no reply and Jack just had to trust that the message had gotten through. Now he had to find somewhere to ditch the car. He wanted it to be somewhere where it could take a bit of time for people to find it but there was no reason to destroy a perfectly good vehicle. He set his watch and then started the car again and travelled slowly along the deserted road. He could still hear the emergency sirens going off around the town behind him and he wanted to get as far away from that as possible. He drove quickly to join the main road to Aberdeen and continued on for as long as he dared. He turned off on a dirt track and drove until his watch beeped, signalling that he was out of time. He gathered all his gear, jumped out of the car, and made his way into the centre of the track in front of the vehicle. He only had seconds to spare. He was suddenly enveloped in a white flash.

SGCSGCSGCSGC

Sam was really surprised that her CO had suggested such an extreme measure without going through other plans first. However, the fact that he'd been threatened was enough to encourage her to follow the plan. Now the biggest problem for her was to find somewhere where no one would see the obvious transportation flash. She'd left the remnants of her rental behind on the main road over half an hour ago and now set her watch for the twenty minutes she knew that she had. She'd decided to follow the main road back to town but ensured that she stayed out of sight. She was pretty sure that she hadn't been followed and that whoever was responsible for planting the bomb hadn't followed her to check if she'd survived or not. Sam wasn't naïve, however. She knew that it in no time at all someone would find her car and realise that there were no human remains inside. It would only be a matter of time before whoever had set the bomb knew she'd survived.

Sam took stock of her surroundings. The land around her was very flat and she was surrounded by sugarcane fields. Could she risk being in the middle of the sugarcane for the transportation? She checked in every direction and saw that she didn't have a choice. The sugarcane was the only protection for miles around. Well, apart from the farm house and outbuilding that she could just see in the distance. But she had no idea if there'd be people there and she couldn't risk being seen by anyone. She pulled her duffel and computer bag up firmly onto her shoulder and made for the nearest field. She walked along the edge and then began to work her way into the sugarcane. It was hot and sweaty work as the cane tried to pull her this way and that. The sun continued to beat down and Sam was getting serious flashbacks to the planet where she'd been stuck and the DHD had been broken. She expected she was getting a similar red tinge to her cheeks as she had on that mission. Her phone beeped to remind her that she was getting close to 'lift off'. She couldn't believe that she was thinking like the colonel. Boy, she must be more stressed than she thought. Just as she managed to disentangle herself and her luggage from the sugarcane, she felt the familiar swoosh that signalled she'd been transported.

SGCSGCSGCSGC

"We'll need to be touching the students for Plan C," Daniel reminded Teal'c as he drove through the battlefield site at Vimy Ridge, the headlights picking out signs of a conflict that had taken place there nearly 100 years earlier.

"I do not believe O'Neill would approve of us taking visitors with us."

"Well, we can't leave them here, T. They're terrified." Daniel pointed to Joe and Ryan in the back. Ryan was looking paler with shock and the loss of blood. "The kid needs a doctor and this is the safest way to get him one."

"I believe we must inform O'Neill before the transport."

"How? You know as well as I do that Jack won't answer if we call."

"Perhaps, but I feel it would be better to alert him prior to our arrival."

"Excuse me, I don't mean to butt in," Joe interrupted, sounding anxious, before continuing angrily, "But what the hell are you talking about?"

"Look, uh… Well, it seems that…" Daniel tried to work out what to say without revealing information that the students shouldn't know.

Teal'c took over, his voice booming over Daniel's. "You are both in mortal danger. You must trust us to keep you safe. However, it is a matter of national security that you be blindfolded."

"Now that's a good idea! Jack would approve." Daniel glanced at Teal'c before focussing back on the road. He took a few quick turns around the edge of the battlefield site and then pulled into a small secluded carpark. "This will have to do. I don't think they've followed us but we need to be quick or we'll be out of time."

All four piled out of the car, Ryan finding it harder and harder to move. Daniel rummaged through his luggage and found items of clothing suitable to make into blindfolds. He quickly wrapped Ryan's arm and blindfolded the students. "Okay, over here. We need to go quickly in case we're spotted. T, you take charge of Joe. I have Ryan." Just as Daniel took Ryan's good arm he could feel the transportation begin.

 **AN: Now they will all be together. And the fun is just beginning. Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5: Plan C

Chapter 5

 **AN: Really pleased so many of you are enjoying this story. Here is part 5 and they all meet up. Just for reference, I have set this in early to mid season 7. Daniel has gone and come back, and there is no mention of Pete, that should give you a bit of season context although there are no direct references to episodes there are some backstory comments from previous series.**

Now Jack really didn't like Antarctica and it was partly for this reason that he'd chosen it as the transportation rendezvous destination. It may seem strange to some people but in his two visits to the most southerly continent he'd met a total of four people, therefore great if you don't want to draw attention to yourself. Plus, and this was the added bonus, the SGC already had a presence there, albeit a small one, but one that he'd chosen specifically for this reason.

As 2iC of the SGC, Jack had been put in charge of recruiting for the Antarctica outpost. Of the three people who manned the small base, the two junior staff thought the entire purpose of their presence in Antarctica was to study the area below the ice where the Gate had been and they were unaware that Jack had handpicked them so he could be sure of all the personnel there if SG-1 ever needed to go to Plan C.

Plan C was simple. Jack liked the acronym the most as it summed up exactly why he needed a safe place. C stood for CRAP or Crisis, Report Antarctica Pronto. He'd felt a real sense of pride when he'd come up with the name. At least no one had vetoed his choice for this, unlike when he'd tried to get them to name their new ship Enterprise. So Jack had put Plan C into operation over the last few years. Once he'd appointed the team leader and the two other scientists, he and Carter had organised the rest. All contact the scientists had with the outside world went through Carter or Janet's laptops at the SGC, and any unsanctioned communication would be picked up through the mics Jack had himself installed before the scientists' arrival, so that he'd know if they couldn't be trusted. Jack, as their direct CO, would have complete charge of the base when he arrived.

So when the transport beam landed him in the room designated for their arrival, Jack felt a calmness come over him, an emotion he'd never before experienced in Antarctica. The beams were timed so that he'd always arrive first and be able to recon the area. He did this immediately, checking that no one had been alerted to his presence, then called the main scientist, who was number 7 on the list of people who knew about the plan, to tell her that they were arriving. He figured that at some point he'd have to let the final two of the seven know they were here but he planned to debrief his team first. Speaking of which, Carter should be landing right about… now. He grinned at the look on her face as his 2IC appeared before him, right on time.

Sam Carter felt a little disorientated as she landed in Antarctica. She was very glad that the room she'd beamed into had heating because coming from the warm field in northern Australia would've been a major shock to her system otherwise. She turned and breathed a sigh that she hadn't been aware of holding as she spotted the Colonel to the side of the room.

"Hey, Carter… Good trip?"

Sam smiled, relieved that her CO was okay and hadn't been hurt in the time they'd been separated. However, she didn't need to answer him and they simply stared, drinking each other in. Sam moved towards Jack, anxious to leave the centre of the room where Teal'c and Daniel would be arriving any second now. She only had enough time to reach her hand out to tentatively touch his arm before her attention was drawn to the middle of the room and the four men who arrived when she'd only expected two.

Jack was immediately on alert when he noticed the extra guests, who were still wearing their blindfolds. "Danny boy, care to share?" he asked when the archaeologist looked his way.

"We were shot at, Jack. Ryan's been shot. I had no choice."

"Crap." Jack looked around the room, grateful that one or both of his teammates had considered the blindfolds. "T, sit them over there and watch them. Carter, Daniel, with me."

Carter immediately followed Jack out of the room but Daniel trotted a little behind, unsure of his Jack's mood.

Once they were out of earshot, Jack stopped and got the others' attention. "Okay, so ideas… anyone… We're clearly in a serious situation and Daniel has joined the bring-your-student-to-work plan."

Daniel winced but realised that Jack was merely concerned rather than angry.

It was Sam who responded first. "Sir, I hate to suggest it, but the infirmary here does have sedatives. I think that at least for now it's the best idea."

Daniel looked a little aghast but Jack was already nodding. "I agree. We need to compare notes from our botched missions and I'd prefer to do that alone for the time being."

"Yes, Sir. I'll speak to Michaels and get some vials. I think we need to calm the students down first, though. They must be nervous about what's going on."

"Right, Daniel, you go talk to the students, reassure them, but don't tell them where we are. Carter, sort out the sedatives. I'll go and sort out some accommodation for the next day or so and check that we haven't been detected here."

"What about the blindfolds?" Daniel asked his CO.

Jack in turn looked to Carter for her opinion. They two seemed to have a silent conversation before Jack spoke again. "Take 'em off. They're more likely to calm down that way."

Daniel turned and stepped back into the room, overhearing a conversation between the two students.

"They've kidnapped us! Can't you tell, Ryan?"

"Joe, don't be insane. They're trying to protect us!"

"He's right, we are," Daniel stated as he walked towards the two on the sofa. He removed their blindfolds and then checked Ryan's arm. "I know you're in pain, Ryan, but the wound's already healing. We'll clean it properly, I promise, but I need you to hold on for a few more minutes."

"Where are we?" Joe asked, confused. Minutes before he'd been in a wood in the north of France but now he had no idea where he was, other than that he was inside a building.

"Ah... well…" Daniel faltered.

"You are somewhere safe. That is all you need to know at present," Teal'c stated, wonderfully for Daniel, ending that uncomfortable conversation.

Joe started to protest but one quelling look from Teal'c stopped him in his tracks.

There was silence for a few seconds before Daniel decided to ask some questions about the discovery that the students had made, not only to find out what they'd discovered but also hoping it would take their minds off where they were. He looked at the two young men. "So, in your emails you mentioned your research, which led you to me. Can you be more specific?"

"Well, like we said," Ryan began, "We came across your work from an obscure reference that touched on a Mayan tomb discovered with Egyptian hieroglyphics. But what was even stranger was that the cave we were working on is famous for its prehistoric cave paintings, only there were hieroglyphics there, too."

"Which cave?"

"Lascaux. It's a system of caves with occupation in prehistoric times in the south of France. We were there on our summer expedition. We just finished yesterday."

"I've heard of the cave system but never this link to hieroglyphics. Are you sure?"

"Yes. Here's our camera. It's got the photos. The French government wanted an area previously unexplored to be catalogued. Our university department was given the job because our professor's done much of the work on the cave system. We were chosen because we'd been helping with the research and we were really enthusiastic... and, of course, we were cheap as we only got room and board for the duration." Ryan dug in his bag and handed over the camera.

As Daniel flicked through the photos he became more and more excited, even encouraging Teal'c to look, too. He was so engrossed in the images that he didn't even notice Sam and Jack returning.

"Daniel! You're supposed to be focussed on your new friends," Jack said, pointing at Joe, who was clearly trying to make a break for freedom.

"Sorry, Jack, but you need to see these. They're incredible!"

"Daniel, not now!" Jack turned to the two students. "Right, Ryan, the infirmary's ready to look at your arm and check you both over."

"Infirmary?" Joe stated. "This is really bizarre."

"And it's going to stay that way," mumbled Jack as Sam came up behind the young men and injected each of them before they knew what was happening, causing them both to slump to the floor.

"Teal'c, let's move them to the infirmary and let the doc take control from there."

Teal'c and Daniel took Ryan while Jack and Sam took Joe. They made their way to the small infirmary where Dr Michaels would look after them.

 **AN: Thanks for reading, more to come soon**


	6. Chapter 6: Let's review

**Here is chapter 6, sorry about the delay, real life came as a bit of a shock to the system this week. This is very short but I promise it will be followed by another chapter this weekend.**

Chapter 6

Having delivered the two students to the doctor in the Antarctic infirmary, the four members of SG1 gathered in the rec room. Jack ensured there was a pot of hot and strong coffee on the go so they could all be alert for trying to piece together their missions. He had no idea how everything could go to hell in a handcart so quickly but he knew they needed to find out who was targeting them. He looked at his other team members and decided to start with the ones who had brought guests.

"So, Daniel," Jack began, "You seem to have a lot to report so why don't you start."

"Well, you know the students contacted us, about mixed cultures in the Neolithic period. It seems they were talking about paintings in an area of a cave system previously unsurveyed. From what the pictures seem to show, there was a link in worship between the cave paintings and ancient hieroglyphics. I suppose it's not totally out of the realm of possibility given that the civilisations…"

"Daniel!" Jack barked. "Not now. Can you tell us how one of them got shot, ie, who's trying to attack us?" Jack said slowly as if to a child.

"Sorry, well, we were…"

"O'Neill," Teal'c broke in to the conversation, "there were several groups of shooters. They knew of our location. I am unsure whether we or the students and their discovery were the target. We removed all traces of ourselves before the beam transported us."

"Thank you, Teal'c. And that, Daniel, is what I call a concise report. You should try it some time."

Beside him Sam sniggered. "Carter, you have something to share with the class?"

"Sorry, Sir. I don't know much more about why I was sent to Australia. Unlike Daniel, I didn't meet the man I was supposed to meet. He was already dead when I got to the hotel so obviously someone knew about the meeting. I think they must have taken the opportunity when I was away from my vehicle at the hotel to put a bomb under the passenger seat. I got out before it blew and then I called you."

"You made the right call," Jack assured her. "As for me, I was followed from the airport in Inverness so I took a longer, non-direct route and, when I finally got there, the building where my meeting was supposed to take place exploded. I didn't stay around long enough to find out anything else."

Jack stood up and started moving around the room. "So, just to clarify, in the same week, I was ordered to a meeting by the President, which is then blown up. Carter, you're ordered to the land of Oz and your contact is shot. And Danny boy, you accept a meeting in France where you're shot at."

"Seems awfully coincidental," Daniel said.

Jack rolled his eyes. "That's my point, Daniel. For some reason, or reasons, we were split up, which is itself unusual, then it looks like we were to be taken out."

"They'll know we aren't dead," Sam added, "At least those following me and Daniel and Teal'c."

"Yeah, but only two others know about this place and I trust them with all our lives."

"We'll need to contact Janet and General Hammond at some point," Sam said referring to the other two people who were aware of Plan C.

"Yes, but the longer they have plausible deniability the better. I suspect there'll be someone turning up at the SGC as we speak." Jack cleared his throat. "We need to get some answers. Carter, get your computer up and running and check SGC security. I want to know who's looking for us. Daniel, get on to the local TV networks in each of the three locations. Find out what the news is saying about all three events. See if we can get more information from there. Teal'c, check the base here. Make sure no one knows we're here and is heading our way, and check all communications from the last few weeks. We need to make sure we're not sitting ducks."

"Do you think we've been compromised?" Daniel asked warily.

"Honestly, no. I think if they knew about this plan they would've been here to greet us. I do think they wanted us out of the way but I don't know if that's about the people we were going to meet and what they had to tell us, or if they were just a distraction to separate us and get us away from the SGC so they could get rid of us." He wiped his hand down his face, frustrated at the lack of information he had. "We need to know more before we decide what to do. Let's meet back here in an hour."

 **More to come very soon, it just read better when broken here. Thanks for reading**


	7. Chapter 7: Research

Chapter 7

 **As promised, here is chapter 7, thanks for the reviews and follows, I'm glad you are enjoying it. So here is what the team have found.**

"So what do we have?" Jack asked an hour later when they were all gathered around a table in the small lounge area.

"Our presence here has neither been detected nor reported," Teal'c stated. "There have been no unauthorised communications. I have studied all regulation footage as well as that from your illegal cameras."

"Thanks, Teal'c," Jack responded sarcastically, giving him a look at the mention of his 'illegal' cameras. "Daniel, any information?"

"Well, yes, there is. Your explosion is being given the most news time. They're saying that a top British diplomat and an American Colonel were both killed in a terrorist attack. Obviously, given that we know much of that to be wrong, it's hard to know what's accurate. However, it's interesting to know that someone has released your information to the press." Daniel looked at Sam. "Sam, there've been reports of the man murdered and the car blown up in Australia, however there's a problem." He looked back at Jack. "Sam's name has been released as a person of interest, seen at the scene, wanted for questioning. You know the drill."

"Not possible. No one saw me," Sam said.

"Calm down, Carter. We all know you didn't do it. However, I think we can all be concerned that they have your details and are trying to find you."

"Yes," Daniel agreed, "But they've also put an alert out to airports, et cetera, so they seem to think Sam's still in Australia."

"Maybe, but it'd hard for them to say that she was beamed out somewhere, wouldn't it." Jack sighed. "So, what about your escapade?"

"Well, ours features the least, which isn't surprising given the fact that there's nothing around the Vimy site. However, our two young friends have been missed by their university colleagues and their pictures have been all over the news in an attempt to find them."

"Well, we can deal with that later. No one can find them here and if the stories get worse we can get Hammond to contact their families and put them at ease." Jack turned to Sam. "Carter, how are things at the SGC?"

"Well, Sir, you were right. Not long after we got here, General Hammond got a phone call telling him there was someone coming from the NID to discuss a security breach."

"Security breach, huh?" Jack said with his usual sarcasm. "So who turned up?"

"Well, several people, Sir. They wanted all the information about where we were and why we'd gone. It's a bit suspicious, though, especially how fast they got to the mountain. It was pretty clear they knew of our missions and there was quite a heated discussion when it seemed that the men knew more than they were letting on. In particular, Hammond was worried about you and they seemed to be suggesting you were dead."

"Are they still at the SGC?"

"Yes, Sir. They've assumed that if we're in trouble we'll immediately get in touch with the SGC. I'm afraid it's going to be hard to contact the General at the base."

"What time is it at the mountain?" Jack asked, his body clock completely thrown.

"Almost midnight. That's what I meant about how fast they turned up. I know you all think I'm paranoid but that suggests they were waiting for news about what was happening to us."

"I agree, Sam," Daniel jumped in. "And, given the fact that someone has released a whole set of information on you and Jack, it seems to show they were waiting to act."

"There does not seem to be a purpose to this," Teal'c stated.

Jack put his head down on his folded arms. "I was just thinking the same thing. Why is this happening?" he asked no one in particular.

The others looked at each other before focussing back on Jack, who still hadn't lifted his head.

"Well, Sir," Sam answered her CO when it was obvious neither Daniel nor Teal'c were going to say anything, "There are two logical options. One, we're the target and someone here on Earth wanted to get to us, so set all this up to eliminate SG-1. Or, two, whatever these people we were supposed to meet have discovered is something that needs to be kept silent. But I have no idea what discoveries in Australia, France and Scotland by such different people could have in common."

"Or maybe both…" Jack said, finally lifting his head. He stood and moved away from the table, over towards the laptop. "Carter, can you get in to my email from here?"

"Uh, yes, especially if you give me your password." Sam took the laptop from her CO and began furiously typing. "What is it, Sir?"

"Uh... well… could be… here, let me do it," Jack said as he tried to take the laptop from Sam.

"Sir, just tell me. What is it?"

"blueeyes," Jack whispered as he looked at Sam, hoping only she could hear.

Daniel laughed behind them as Jack went a lovely shade of red and turned to glare at Daniel, who quickly started coughing, while Sam tried not to notice her own pink face as she quickly typed in the password.

"I'm in, Sir. What am I looking for?"

"There was some big honkin' memo from some Russian geek, a Daniel equivalent in their Stargate programme, about a possible Goa'uld presence throughout the ages. I read some of it and thought about passing it on to Daniel, but then life at the SGC took over and we dealt with a crisis or two and I forgot all about it."

Sam searched for a few minutes, using some key words that she assumed would be in the email, even although her CO couldn't remember the name of the person, and finally said, "I've found it, Sir."

"Put it up, Carter. Let me skim through it. There was something in it about France, I'm sure of it." Jack looked at the screen over Sam's shoulder, leaning forward when he needed to scroll further down the email. "Yes, here we are... see here? This guy suggested that links he'd discovered between Egypt and other countries around the Mediterranean meant that there had to have been Goa'uld involvement. But that would also mean that Goa'ulds were still here after Daniel suggested they'd already left."

Daniel pushed closer to read the report. "He seems to have analysed several societies and is conjecturing that there were more than just Seth who remained on earth." He pushed his glasses further up his nose as he read further.

"Oh, my god!"

"What?" Jack asked.

"Well, I think it's a good job you don't delete your emails. You're right, it's all here. A theory about Neolithic France and Neolithic Orkney. You were in the north of Scotland, right, not too far from Orkney?" Daniel asked, looking at Jack. Any artefact found around Orkney could be taken to a military base there, couldn't it?"

Jack shrugged, not really sure what the British military would do with anything they found, "So you think that's what I was sent to check out, an artefact? But why destroy it?"

Daniel looked back at the screen. "Well, I'm not sure Jack, but it makes sense that it's an artefact but..." he began as he moved his finger over the mouse pad, going back up to the top of the email. "Yes, I thought so. I got an email myself a month or so ago, inviting me to contribute to the eulogy of a Russian archaeologist who'd been killed in a road accident somewhere between his house and the base where he was working... and he's the guy who wrote this report."

"So, he's dead."

"Yup. This has all been planned for a long time, Jack. I think someone saw an opportunity to get rid of us and the evidence this man had at the same time. Look, this report is over 100 pages long. Let me read it and perhaps Marko here will solve his own murder."

Jack suddenly yawned and realised that he and most of his team had probably not slept in around 24 hours given their adventures. However he also knew by the look in his 'geeks' eyes that there would be no tearing them away from this report. "Okay, Daniel, you take first watch with Carter. Teal'c, you and I are gonna get some shut eye. Wake us in four hours, or if anything comes up."

"Okay, Jack."

"Yes, Sir," Sam added as Jack and Teal'c turned and left the room.

 **So the mystery gets deeper and definitely bigger. Hope to have more up in a day or so but if I fail, please just assume real life has encroached again - if only I could get paid to write the stories. Oh well, off to do some actual work.**


	8. Chapter 8: The SGC

Chapter 8

 _Again, apologies for the lack of chapters this week. So there will be 2 today to appease you all. Thanks for all the reviews and support. Now on with the story and we leave SG1 in Antarctica and head to the SGC._

"Dr Frasier, a word please," General Hammond said from behind Janet as she checked Siler's chart at the end of the wayward engineer's bed.

"Yes, Sir," Janet said as she turned to face the General.

"Somewhere private, Major, with no cameras," Hammond said, turning away from the camera to ensure no one could read his lips.

"Yes, Sir." Janet looked around the room, looking for somewhere away from prying eyes, then her eyes lit up with an idea. "I'm so sorry you're not feeling well, Sir. We'll just get set up over here." She guided General Hammond to a bed at the other end of the room and pulled the curtain around the bed, thus stopping the camera from seeing them.

Hammond moved to the other side of the bed then turned to face Janet. "Have you heard from them?" he asked quietly.

"No, Sir. I take it you have no information?"

Hammond sighed. "I'm worried, Dr Frasier. If they initiated the plan they should have contacted one of us by now. Those men are convinced Colonel O'Neill's dead and are sure that Major Carter killed the man she was sent to get information from. They seem to know nothing about Teal'c and Dr Jackson."

"Can we contact the… rendezvous?" Janet asked, not wanting to give anything away.

"Not without alerting the men here who were sent to question us."

Both could hear footsteps approaching and to keep up their charade Hammond moved on to the bed so that Janet could do a preliminary exam.

Nurse Clark popped her head around the curtain. "Major, there are three men here demanding to see the General." She looked at Hammond and assumed he was really ill. "I'll tell them he isn't able to be questioned."

Janet looked up at her nurse. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Tell them they'll be able to talk to him in an hour or so."

"Yes, Ma'am." Nurse Clark left and they could hear her talking to someone else in the infirmary.

"They're persistent," Hammond whispered.

"Yes, Sir." Janet waited for the talking to cease and to be sure that the other person had left the infirmary. "What are we going to do, Sir?"

Hammond thought for a moment as Janet pottered around pretending to set up for an exam. "Dr Frasier, I think you need to take some time off. You've been working too hard and you should spend some time with your daughter. Perhaps you could get in touch with old friends…" Hammond reached into his pocket and withdrew a satellite phone and gave it to Janet, who quickly hid it in her coat.

"Thank you, Sir, I'd appreciate the time with Cassie." Janet looked at the General, slowly nodding her head to let him know she'd understood what he wanted her to do.

"Bring her over tonight. Kayla and Tessa would love to see her again." Hammond handed over a small piece of paper and then got off the bed. "I'll see you tonight, Doctor. We can catch up then. And thanks for the check up and assuring me that everything's fine."

Hammond walked out from behind the curtain and left the infirmary, leaving Janet looking at the piece of paper. There was a number written on it that she'd never seen before but assumed that when she got home it might put her in touch with her friends.

Janet quickly organised her staff so that she could leave work early. It was a Saturday morning and she could get home to Cassie and make the call to the Colonel, or maybe even Sam. The device looked more like something she'd create.

Janet made her way home and arrived to relieve the sitter she always hired when she worked the night shift. Cassie was on the sofa watching morning TV.

"Mom! You're home early."

"Yes, quiet time at the base. Uncle George thought you and I could have some time off."

Cassie jumped up from the sofa and turned to face her mom. "Yeah! So what are we gonna do? Shopping? Oh, fishing. Can we go see Uncle Jack?"

"Well, we might be going to see the Colonel but not fishing. Come on, I need to make a call." Janet moved through to her study with a curious Cassie following behind and closed the door. She opened the satellite phone and dialled the number on the piece of paper. It rang twice and then was answered.

"Who's this?!"

"Colonel! Oh, thank God. We thought you were dead."

"Doc, why you calling?!"

"Colonel, you and your team have gone missing and General Hammond is being questioned as we speak. He asked me to call."

"Well, Doc, we're fine. Are you on the secure line from Hammond?"

"Yes, Sir. Did you initiate Plan C?"

"Yeah, kinda had to. Someone tried to blow me and Carter up and they were shooting at Danny and T. No injuries, but this whole thing's very strange."

"What can I do, Colonel?"

"We need information, Janet. Can you bring your laptop here? And bring Cass. Oh, and wrap up warm."

"Yes, Sir. We'll be with you in a couple of minutes."

Janet ended the call and turned to Cassie. "You need to get dressed, and quickly. We're going to help SG-1 with a mission."

"Really?! Are you serious? That is way too cool!" Cassie jumped from the chair and ran up the stairs squealing.

Janet simply smiled at her antics then shouted after her, "Warm clothes, Cass! You're gonna need 'em."

Janet walked over to her wall safe and typed in the combination. She reached in for the small stone that the Colonel had given her the year before when they all thought Cassie could be in danger and this was the first time she'd needed to use it. She knew it was programmed to transport them from her study to the rendezvous point and she waited for Cassie to come back down the stairs. She gathered up her laptop and jacket, then headed to the kitchen to grab some juice and granola bars in case this was a long day.

Cassie appeared back downstairs, still bouncing with excitement. "So, where're we going?"

"You'll see. Come over here." Janet beckoned Cassie over beside her, held her hand, and then pressed the button on the stone. They both disappeared and only Cassie was shocked when they reappeared in the small lounge in Antarctica.

"Long time no see, Doc," Colonel O'Neill greeted the new arrivals.

"Jack!" Cassie exclaimed, running over to him.

"Colonel, what mess have you and your team got into this time?!"

They were interrupted before Jack had a chance to reply.

"Janet!" Sam exclaimed from the doorway. "And Cassie! When did you two get here?"

Cassie ran to hug Sam. "We just did! One minute we were in the study and then, poof, we were here. So, where is here, exactly?" Cassie started moving around the room, looking for clues. "Because this isn't the SGC and I don't think we'd need to use alien technology to get to the base."

"We're in Antarctica, Cass," Jack replied, then figured he might as well tell her everything. "And you're here to keep you safe, 'cause we're here as someone tried to kill us."

Cassie looked aghast at what Jack had just told her. "But you're all okay, right? Where are Daniel and Teal'c?" she added, looking around anxiously.

Sam crossed the small space to Cassie and took both her hands. "We're all here and fine." Sam turned and glared at her CO for scaring Cassie.

Jack cleared his throat, anxious to get on with the meeting. "Cass, I need you to take your Walkman and plug yourself in while we talk your mom, okay?"

"Can't I help, too?" Cassie whined slightly.

Janet put her arms around her daughter. "You will, sweetheart, but we need to discuss the situation first and then form a plan. Then you can help."

"Okay," Cassie said grudgingly. She let her mom guide her to the other room that she'd seen through the glass, and settled down on the small sofa, listening to her music.

Sam had gone to wake Teal'c and Daniel so they could all discuss the events of the last 24 hours and when they all got back to the lounge area they joined Jack around the table and Janet placed her laptop in the middle. The plan had always been that they'd call on Janet in a situation like this and that she'd bring her laptop, one that Sam kept constantly clear of viruses or attempts at hacking.

"So, from the top," Jack started to explain. "I was told by the President to meet the British UN rep in an RAF base in Scotland. Apparently, he had something to show me. But before I got to the meeting there was an explosion. I was actually heading to the base when I saw a hangar go up in flames. Carter here was ordered to Australia, something to do with the Great Barrier Reef, but before she could meet the man she was supposed to meet, he was shot and killed and a bomb was placed in her car. And Danny over here and Teal'c were meeting two students in France when they were shot at and now we have two stowaways, one injured. We could do with your help there, Doc."

There was silence around the room while Janet simply stared at the Colonel in disbelief, having trouble taking it all in.

"Okaaayyy..." Janet drawled. "Wow, you _have_ had an adventurous day. Do you have any idea of who or what's behind all this?"

 **AN: Promise that the next chapter will be up soon. It could have been one huge chapter but it breaks a little here. Hope we are all following along, it's about to really pick up the pace. Thanks**


	9. Chapter 9: So what's going on?

Chapter 9

 _Firstly, I am so, so, sorry for not getting this up yesterday. Life got in the way again. So here is the continuation of chapter 8 where we find some answers and ask some major questions!_

 _ **Previously**_

 _There was silence around the room while Janet simply stared at the Colonel in disbelief, having trouble taking it all in._

" _Okaaayyy..." Janet drawled. "Wow, you_ _have_ _had an adventurous day. Do you have any idea of who or what's behind all this?"_

 _ **And now…..**_

Jack looked at Daniel. "You're up, Danny boy."

Daniel straightened in his seat and pushed his glasses up on his nose as he got ready to speak. "Yes, well, after Jack remembered an email he'd received, we've been looking into a theory from a Russian scientist who conjectured that there were multiple Goa'uld-controlled societies around Europe at the time of Ancient Egypt, as well as before and after. In particular, he was interested in the rings in Orkney and the cave paintings found in the south of France. I'm reading through his work at the moment but it's hard going. His theories are all over the place! I mean, one minute he's showing detailed links between the rings in Orkney and the Stargate and how the people who built the rings were likely to have at least seen the Stargate or were told what to build, then he jumps quite suddenly back to Egypt and the use of the Nile in the early dynastic periods…

"Daniel!" Jack snapped at him. "While this is all _fascinating_!" he said sarcastically, "Do you think you could get to the point?" Daniel glared at his CO and the Colonel's complete lack of care for Daniel's life's joy. "As I was trying to say, I haven't yet found a reason why anyone would want rid of this material or why we were set up to take the fall."

Sam reached for Janet's laptop and started furiously typing.

"Whatcha looking for, Carter?" Jack asked whilst trying to look over her shoulder.

"Well, Sir, I'm considering the idea that if all of these events are linked we should maybe look at how we came to be the ones who were sent on these missions. _We_ may be the link." Sam continued to type as she spoke. "If we dig a bit deeper we may be able to find out where our orders originated from. We all said at the time that they seemed wrong, especially as Hammond wasn't able to get any answers."

"Carter, while I can see what you're saying given _your_ orders, mine came straight from the guy with the red phone and Daniel over there made his own decision about where he was going."

"Not really, Jack," Daniel mused. "The students told me it was their tutor who'd pointed out my research to them and encouraged them to meet me. Perhaps we're talking about something more than government agencies?"

"What's your theory?" Jack asked, noting the look on Daniel's face that said a lightbulb had just gone off.

"Well, actually, I was considering Sarah and Osiris. If we're talking academia, then she had more contacts than me and could easily be placed in a university and plan a dig... Yes, there'd be nothing to stop her. Sam, see if you can look up Sarah Gardiner and check if she's here."

Sam launched the internet in a window and did as Daniel asked. And there she was, an academic fellow, transferred from Chicago to Oxford last year, in charge of the research done by summer student volunteers.

"It all makes sense," Daniel stated, having skimmed through her updated bio on the university website.

"Well, I wish you'd fill the rest of the class in, Daniel. Not all of us were born geeks, you know." Jack's voice was dripping with sarcasm but also showed his exhaustion, which was enough to stop the comeback that Daniel was about voice that would have only prolonged the argument and annoyed his CO.

"Anubis, Jack! He'd have full knowledge of what went on here on Earth, both when he was here as a Goa'uld and after through his link with the Ancients. He'd know where all the different societies were and where to find anything that the Goa'uld left behind when they left Earth. Sarah must be here on his orders. He's sent Osiris back here to get any artefacts, or destroy them, only some of them are in fairly public places so he can't just bomb his way in and out. We're still a protected planet."

Jack didn't reply but just turned to look at Sam when she said, "But something must have changed if he was willing to start bombing things now."

Daniel looked thoughtful as he replied. "Not necessarily. We know he won't want anything powerful to fall into our hands. Perhaps Sarah got hold of Marko's report or maybe Sarah's not the only one involved in this. After all, we have no evidence she's linked to your and Jack's missions at all, only mine. Perhaps things are going well for him 'out there'... or badly... and he now needs to deal with whatever artefacts are left here."

"Daniel Jackson..." Everyone turned to Teal'c as he contributed to the conversation, which was unusual for him unless he'd been directly asked a question. "There would be no need for our presence in this situation if his intention was to merely destroy some artefacts."

Daniel sighed. "I don't have all the answers. This could be nothing to do with Anubis, although Sarah's presence would suggest otherwise. Sam," he said as he turned earnestly to his friend. "You didn't sense anything in either of the students, like if Osiris had jumped from Sarah into one of them?"

That was too worrying a thought to be left to chance and Jack immediately jumped from the table and ran to the infirmary, followed by the rest of him team.

"X-ray them... now!" Jack ordered and Janet quickly entered the room to help Dr Michaels set it up. It was a well-equipped medical area and the x-ray machine was soon doing its job. SG-1 got out of their way and headed to the observation room next door.

"I don't sense anything, Sir," Sam stated from their position behind the glass in the other room.

Teal'c looked at Sam and nodded once in agreement. He then turned back to the observation window. "The young man with the wound is unlikely to be concealing a Goa'uld. It would have had to heal the wound. It would have been impossible not to."

Jack didn't take his eyes from the two sedated students on the beds in the other room. "Let's just check them both, just in case." He didn't know what to do if his secret hiding place had been compromised by the enemy.

Silence reigned in the observation area until Janet came over to the window. "They're clear, Sir. No signs of any entry or exit wounds, either."

"Good. Thanks, Docs." Jack was very relieved that he didn't have a Goa'uld in his midst. He turned to SG-1. "So, let's get some food, then we can discuss Daniel's theory further and see if we can link it to some good old Earth-bound nasties, like those NID guys who turned up at the mountain."

The decision was made to include Cassie as she was at no risk and who knew, she may have some interesting thoughts to add. Daniel had decided that, if nothing else, she'd be able to help with the research. The decision was also made by Janet, much to Jack's displeasure, to let the students wake up and not give them any more sedative. Something to do with it being immoral to continue to sedate innocents, especially when one had been injured. Jack believed he was being quite well behaved in the way he was treating them and could have happily dealt with them harsher. Anyway, the decision was made, and the Antarctic doctors were instructed to watch the students while SG-1, Janet and Cassie met in the lounge again.

Once they'd all found something to eat and drink, they made their way back to the lounge area and settled down around the small table.

Sam looked at her CO. "We can't stay here forever, Sir."

"I know, Carter!" Jack groused. "But I'd prefer to know exactly what I was getting into before we ventured back again."

Daniel leaned forward with a file in his hands and looked at Jack. "I finished reading the file from Marko and you were right, Jack. They needed to get rid of him and his ideas." He sat back and looked around at everyone.

The others stared at Daniel, expecting him to continue. It was very unusual for Daniel to stop mid theory and so they waited.

"Daniel?" Jack drawled.

"Jack?" Daniel queried.

"Well…" Jack gestured across the table at his friend, inviting him, he thought, to continue.

"Well… what?" Daniel looked confused.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, Daniel. Why did they need to get rid of him? What did he discover? And why in god's name have _we_ all been caught up in this?!" Jack yelled, finally losing his temper.

"Oh… Sorry. Well, Marko's theories, while in depth, were a little extreme even for me. And so I had to just take a great deal on trust, that what he said was true, given what we've since found out..."

"Daniel!" Jack shouted. "So help me, if you don't get to the point, and I mean right now, I'm going to get Carter to shoot you... and it won't be with a zat."

Cassie laughed at the threat and was soon joined by Sam and Janet, who were trying desperately not to laugh at a senior officer but were failing miserably.

"Sorry, Jack," Daniel mumbled distractedly, unconcerned by Jack's outburst. He then continued as if nothing had happened. "Well, anyway, Marko conjectured that one of the rings in Orkney contained a powerful weapon like the one Anubis used to attack Earth last year, the one Teal'c, Bratac and R'yac destroyed."

Daniel looked around at the slightly surprised look on his teammates' faces. "What? I read all of Jonas' reports, just like he read mine. So, anyway, Marko said he came up with this theory once he'd been read into the SGC reports from that particular mission. But because there wasn't any evidence of a 'gate at the ring site in Orkney, he believed that the ring would've had a different purpose and it would've been able to destroy any ship trying to attack Earth. Of course, he offers no evidence of this but, at the same time, he suggests that if that sort of weapon existed on Earth, then at least some of the Goa'uld would have known about it, and that he'd done explorations in France and found clues to the weapon in the drawings in an unexplored area of the caves that Ryan and Joe ended up in." He waved in the direction of the infirmary, took a deep breath and continued.

"Then his theories get even crazier and, to be honest, they're so out there, even for me, that if we weren't all in such serious trouble here I'd probably just file them away and forget about them. But... well... under the circumstances maybe they're not so out there after all." Daniel shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, Marko believed he'd found something in the Great Barrier Reef. He believed it was Atlantis or something like that. He seemed to suggest he'd found a power source if nothing else."

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c began, getting everyone's attention, "Do you think these theories have any merit?"

Daniel shook his head and wiped his glasses, taking the time to think before answering. "Teal'c, I've always been one for extreme theories, I was ostracised from the academic community for it, but he offers no evidence, no substantiated facts. If we weren't in trouble I'd struggle to agree with any of his work unless he offered something to corroborate his findings."

"But someone must have believed him," Sam stated. The others turned towards her. "Well, I just mean, logically speaking, even if the whole thing's wrong and Marko's theories are a lot of hog wash, _someone_ must think he's right. After all, they've blown up a building, shot a scientist, put a bomb under my car, and tried to stop the students meeting Daniel with a shootout! Either the theories are correct and they're all linked or someone believes it enough to try and stop us from discovering the truth."

Janet looked perplexed at her friend. "But who could control this enough to get the President to sign off on your missions?"

Jack took a deep breath. "That's assuming the President wasn't in on it all."

Sam sat back from the table and turned towards Jack. "Wow, if that's what we're thinking then there's no one we can trust."

"I'm not saying it's true, Carter, just that he was the only one who spoke to me. Not the Chief of the Air Force or anyone from the NID. It was him."

 **AN: Ah ha! So is the President in on the whole scheme? More to come as soon as I can. Thanks for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10: Some answers

Chapter 10

 _So very sorry for the delay in this chapter, this week has been very hectic. Hope to have another one out over the weekend. We move locations again, to the White House and perhaps the beginning of some answers to questions._

The place the President was going to miss the most when he left office in a couple of months was the view from the Oval Office as the sun rose every morning. It was here that his Chief of Staff found him this cold morning.

"The British ambassador would like a moment of your time."

"Is there any word from the mountain or from SG-1?"

"No, it's like they've disappeared from the face of the earth."

"And we checked that? I mean, we do have the ability to fly large ships now. They couldn't have gone up there somewhere?" He pointed up.

"Well, in all honesty, I have no idea. All we know is that Colonel O'Neill's tail lost him before the explosion but it's likely he's dead. And, if Major Carter's still in Australia, then we expect the authorities will pick her up today. Dr Jackson's vehicle has been discovered in Vimy Memorial Park but there's no trace of him, the alien, or the students."

The President whipped round to confront his former best friend. "Don't call him that!"

The Chief of Staff's eyes suddenly glowed, causing the President to flinch, and his voice morphed into the deep, almost mechanical tone of its new owner. "But he is… _Sir_... and, with your help, he and his friends are no longer going to be a problem for your administration and its new ally."

"And I have your word that you'll leave Earth alone? That was the deal. SG-1 and the artefacts for Earth's safety."

"Yes… but we need complete proof that SG-1 have been dealt with and you are yet to provide this."

"I'm trying and hopefully this meeting with the ambassador from Britain will reveal more. Contact the Australian authorities and see if they've apprehended Major Carter. And put Dr Jackson's name out as a suspect in the kidnapping of the students. That might smoke them out of their hiding place." The President turned back to the window. "You're dismissed. Tell my secretary to send in the ambassador."

"As you wish... _Sir..._ " The once close ally of the President smiled a sickly smile before adding menacingly, "But I warn you. Do not forget your place." With one last look at the President, he turned and made his way towards the outer office.

The President sank down onto his seat. Not in his greatest nightmares could he have pictured this end to his Presidency. The election was in only a couple of weeks. He'd finished his two terms and was now waiting for the new man to take over. This was supposed to be the small window of time where he could try and make a difference, without having to fight another election race. He'd planned on creating a documentary about the role of the SGC and it was all set to start filming just after the election. But now he had the enemy in his midst and he was a pawn to its demands. He'd done what the Goa'uld had asked. He'd sent O'Neill to the UK and sent a tail to track him. He'd known that the other members of SG-1 were being ordered to other locations but he hadn't been directly involved in those plans. He was hoping beyond hope that all of SG-1 had miraculously escaped but he couldn't see how.

The door to the office opened, interrupting the President's thoughts, and the British ambassador walked in. The President stood to greet the woman in front of him. "Madam Ambassador," he began. He pointed to the small seating area in the centre of his office, indicating for her to sit down. "What news do you bring from Scotland?"

"Good afternoon, Mr President," Marjorie Smythe replied before walking over to the seats and sitting down. "The fire has been put out and the investigators have finished examining the hangers. It appears that the artefact targeted has not been fully destroyed. I also have confirmation of the deaths and injuries. 24 dead, including our Gate Treaty representative, and over 50 injured."

"And Colonel O'Neill... any news of him?" the President asked cautiously.

"Unfortunately, no. We have no information on the Colonel. But on the positive side, his remains haven't been identified. Are you sure he made it to the meeting?"

Suddenly, the President stood, quietly removed his jacket and glasses, then moved towards the glass door that led to the outside. He turned and beckoned for Marjorie to follow him and then walked out of the Oval Office, his long stride quickly taking him far enough away from the room that he hoped he'd no longer be overheard by the bugs placed in the office by the enemy now residing in his old friend. He didn't have long but this was his only chance to get a message out. He was practically being kept a prisoner in the White House.

"Madam Ambassador, I don't have time to explain, but I need you to get a message to the SGC, and I mean in person. I can't trust any phone call or email. Do you understand?"

"Not really, Sir, but continue."

"This whole thing is part of a Goa'uld plot to get rid of SG-1, as well as some artefacts that they believe threaten them." He only gave the Ambassador a moment for that to sink in before continuing, knowing that time was of the essence.

"Tell General Hammond that I've been compromised at the highest level. He is not to comply with any order that comes with my authority. Tell him that he must take full control of the SGC, arrest and remove anyone who isn't on his normal personnel roster, and make all efforts to find SG-1, deploying the Prometheus to locate them, if necessary." The President stopped as the glass door from his office opened and he could see his Chief of Staff looking out. He pointed to the roses on the trellis. "These are the Lincoln roses. They always bloom at this time of year. I believe these are the ones that your predecessor was looking at." He lowered his voice to a whisper and added urgently, "Go today." He reached into his trouser pocket and handed her a coin, making sure the action was hidden from his Chief of Staff. "Take this. It's my Seal Coin. Go to Andrews, ask for the commander, and when you see him show him this coin and he'll do anything you ask. Leave now!"

The President reached out and shook the stunned Ambassador's hand, then turned and invited his Chief of Staff over to join them. "Marjorie here was just telling me that there have been 24 killed in Scotland. No word on O'Neill, though." He turned back to the ambassador. "When do you think they'll have identified all the remains?"

Marjorie looked at the most powerful man in the world and realised that he was scared, not just of the situation but of the man who had joined them, so she played along. She really had no idea of the answer to his question but realised he was looking to buy some time. "I've been told that it could be a number of days. At the moment they're establishing who was on the base and who can be eliminated from enquiries. After that it'll require post mortems and dental records to finish identifying all the remains. I assume that Colonel O'Neill's records can be released to the RAF doctors?"

"I'll see to that, Sir," the Chief of Staff replied. "Better to get confirmation before moving forward, wouldn't you say, Mr President?"

"Absolutely," the President agreed, then turned to the Ambassador. "Well, Marjorie, I appreciate you taking the time to visit. We obviously send our condolences to the families of those caught up in this disaster and to the British people." He reached out to shake her hand again.

"Thank you, Mr President. Your concern and friendship is always welcomed by the people of my country. I'll let you know as soon as I have any news regarding Colonel O'Neill." She looked directly at the President, hoping she conveyed her agreement to his request, nodded to the Chief of Staff, then took her leave.

Marjorie Smythe left the White House on a mission, one that she had very little idea how to execute, but she had the President's coin. She'd heard of such things but had never actually seen one. She knew that if you had one of these coins, it showed that you had the ear and confidence of the person to whom it belonged. She also knew that with both the request of the President and this coin, the entire military personnel of the USA would work for her on behalf of the President. With firm resolve, she got into the back of her car and looked at her assistant, who'd been waiting for her.

"Kevin, we've been given a mission," Marjorie said without preamble. Her assistant looked surprised but nodded slightly. Marjorie turned to the front and spoke directly to her security in the front seat, "David, we're going to Andrews Air Force base."

The car sped off from the White House, watched by the President, who hoped that he was being saved by a very unlikely source. The Ambassador had his instructions and his coin and, even if it meant that the Joint Chiefs got wind of this and took over the White House, it would hopefully also mean that the Goa'uld wouldn't win.

 **AN: Ok, so I have no idea, I repeat no idea, whether the Coin thing exists. I saw something like it on NCIS with the Secretary of the Navy. Anyway, please just accept the premise as laid out here, or you might as well stop reading, which would be a shame! And now the adventure to help defeat the Goa'uld really begins.**


	11. Chapter 11: Back to Colorado

Chapter 11

 _Thanks for all the reviews and support, don't think I have said that in a while and I really mean it. So this chapter takes us back to the Antarctic. This chapter really moves the story along and is quite long, as I couldn't see if there was a place for a split, so hopefully it is understandable. Enjoy._

Janet and Cassie spent the rest of the day in Antarctica, trying to help SG-1. They'd discovered the connection to Sarah and were able to confirm with the students that she'd been the main organiser of the summer work in France, although they were sure there was someone above her.

Cassie had worked with Daniel looking through Marko's report, which was very obscure at times. It appeared that Marko had picked up a power signal that seemed to originate from the Great Barrier Reef, which was unlike anything that could be found on Earth, so he'd assumed that there needed to be an installation there. However, with Sam's help, they'd gone through underwater sonar maps and had found that that wasn't the case. They could pinpoint where the signal had originated but hadn't been able to find anything manmade there. Marko's report, however, did explain why Sam had been sent to Australia, as the contact she was to meet had been sent the same email from Marko that Jack had been sent, and had clearly been involved in helping Marko to study the reef. Clearly, he knew too much. The question now was if the power source was still in the reef, or if it had been 'reclaimed' by those looking to eliminate Sam.

Janet had spent the day with the students, trying to reassure them, helping with Ryan's arm, and generally getting them to relax enough to give a detailed report about their dealings with Sarah. It wasn't a good sign that a well-connected Goa'uld had managed to live on Earth for several months without the SGC's knowledge. And yet, bizarrely, the Goa'uld didn't seem to have made a grab for power. This was something that was troubling Teal'c who, with Jack, decided to do some research and find out all they could about the department Sarah was working for and where they were getting their funding and information. It was a slow process as neither Jack nor Teal'c were excellent researchers but, by the end of the day, they had some theories. One in particular was quite terrifying.

"So, Jack," Daniel began when they all met up together later that day, "What did you find?"

"Everything seems to lead back to the President," Jack replied grimly.

"Really? Wow! Okay, well, why do you think that?" Daniel asked, wanting the evidence before he was prepared to believe that the number one political supporter of the Stargate program was now an enemy.

Jack sighed. "Because no other explanation makes sense. Right, Teal'c?"

"Indeed, O'Neill," Teal'c agreed as he nodded at Jack. He then turned to Daniel. "The order for O'Neill came from the President himself. Major Carter's order came from an officer close to him, the Chief of the Air Force and as such would have had to have been sanctioned by the President. I do not see any other answer for members of SG-1 to be sent to these locations.

"I understand that, Teal'c, but the President? That's pretty extreme!" Daniel was still unconvinced.

"I have some evidence that could back this up," Sam stated. "Janet and I traced Sarah Gardiner and her contacts and one of the numbers she called from her office in Oxford before going to France was the White House switchboard. We can't say who answered the call but it had to be somebody there."

Daniel sat up straighter on his seat. "So, to get this straight, we're saying that the Goa'uld have a direct link to the administration in charge of our country and, having read Marko's theory, put a plan in place to get rid of him, his discoveries, and the team who's the first line defence for Earth?"

Jack looked around the room and received nods from the others there. "Yep. That's exactly what we're saying."

"Okaaaay," Daniel replied, slowly. "Wow! So, where does that leave us? What do we do now?"

"I've been planning that," Jack replied. "First we need to get back to the Springs. We can use Doc's stone and hitch a ride with Doc here and Cass back to their place and stay at theirs. No one can know we're back until we get more Intel."

"What about Ryan and Joe?" Daniel asked.

"We leave them here. Let Michaels look after them. We can arrange transport out of McMurdo when it's all done."

"Okay, I agree. It's going to be hard enough getting to the bottom of this without having to worry about them."

"We'd better go soon," Janet said, checking her watch that was still set to mountain time. "General Hammond asked me to go to his house this evening. He'll be waiting for us."

"Right, Carter, what's the deal with the Doc's stone? It doesn't work like ours, does it?

"No. The ones that SG-1 have activate with our particular bio-signals and need our voices to activate them. Then they follow the protocol that Thor and I installed. Janet's one is designed to work by the button on it, as we assumed she'd be the only traveller."

"But we can still all go with her, yes?"

"Yes, Sir, but we all have to be touching each other, and it won't allow you to go first. We have to all arrive together."

Jack grimaced. He didn't like going into a potentially hostile environment without being able to fully protect his team.

"Okay." Jack turned to Janet. "Doc, do one final check on Ryan. Carter, grab all the notes and files we have. I'll go tell Michaels we're leaving. Back here ready to go in 10."

Their tasks completed, SG-1 and the Frasiers were soon ready to go back to Colorado. Jack looked at Janet and her daughter. "Cassie, you and your mom in the middle." He turned to his team. "Okay, weapons ready in case someone's decided to investigate the Frasier house." SG-1 positioned themselves around Cassie and Janet, each of them touching Janet, and waited for Jack to give the final signal.

"Okay, Doc... Now!"

Janet pressed the button and in an instant they found themselves in her dark study.

Jack took immediate stock of the empty room, as did all of SG-1, checking every corner and possible hiding place, then quietly started giving orders. "Teal'c, you and I are gonna check the place. Avoid the windows. We don't want anyone who's watching the house to know SG-1 are here. You find anything, eliminate them and ask questions later! Carter, Daniel, stay here and wait for my signal."

Teal'c bowed in acknowledgement of the order then opened the door slightly and slipped out, followed by Jack. It was an anxious few minutes for those left in the room until they heard Jack's loud call of, "Clear!"

Sam led the group out of the room and found Jack and Teal'c in the hallway.

"Doc, you and Cassie, close the curtains, switch on some lights, then get ready to head to Hammond's as planned. We'll wait for you here. Oh, and do you have anything in the freezer to eat. We're gonna need some sustenance."

"Yes, Colonel." Janet set off with Cassie to follow his orders and make it look like she and Cassie were simply moving around the house after an afternoon of spending time together.

Jack looked around at his team. "Well, we might as well make ourselves at home. Whatever Doc finds out from Hammond, it's likely we won't be going anywhere 'til morning. Carter, you know this place better than the rest of us. Take Daniel and start making up some beds for us. We need to be ready for action first thing tomorrow. Teal'c you and I are going to check outside. It's dark enough that if we leave through the garage we should be able to see if anyone's watching the place."

"Yes, Sir," Sam answered, then moved away to check the state of Janet's spare rooms.

"Bed making!" Daniel whined, "Why does Teal'c get to scope out the area and I get bed making?"

"Because he has decades of experience in combat, Daniel, and nyou'd probably fall over your own feet in the dark." Jack smirked at his friend and his own joke then turned to Teal'c. "C'mon, big guy, the quicker we check things out the quicker we can get the food on. Don't know about you but I'm starving."

"Indeed." Jack and Teal'c walked through the house and carefully exited through the garage. They checked the perimeter, finding nothing suspicious, then went back into the kitchen and found Cassie and Janet searching for food to feed their friends.

"It's all quiet out there, Doc. You and Cassie will hopefully have no company going to Hammond's." He looked over at what Cassie was pulling from the freezer. "So, what's cooking?"

"I found a couple of frozen pizzas. Should we do one or two?" Cassie asked as she removed the huge pizzas from the shelf.

Jack looked at one, then looked at Teal'c who was standing on the other side of the room. "Best do both. You know how much Teal'c can put away."

Cassie giggled but did what she was asked.

Once the food had begun cooking and Janet was sure that her pristine kitchen would survive an SG-1 invasion, she and Cassie left the house. Their journey was quiet and, as they approached Hammond's house, Janet was a little surprised to see the armed guards at the door.

"Cassie," Janet said quietly but firmly as she slowed down almost to a crawl, keeping an eye on the guard, "I know Jack and Teal'c taught you to drive over the summer, even though we haven't got you through your test yet. I'm going to get out now. If anything happens and you're afraid, you get behind this wheel and get home. Understood?"

Cassie nodded, fear beginning to creep up her spine. "I promise, Mom."

Janet pulled the vehicle up to the kerb. "Good girl." The two armed men on either side of Hammond's door pulled their weapons closer to their chests as Janet stepped out of the vehicle. Janet could see one of them put his finger to his ear and begin to speak, clearly to someone in charge. The question was, were they talking to General Hammond, or had those NID guys from the SGC taken over Hammond's home?

Janet drew in a deep breath before she started walking towards Hammond's house. She had a plan and, as long as Cassie could get away, she doubted they'd shoot her on the spot in public. She moved towards the door, keeping her hands in plain sight so as not to worry the guards.

"Please wait there, Ma'am," one of the guards ordered before she'd reached them.

Janet stopped but stood tall, not intimidated by recruits so far below her military level. "I'm here to see General Hammond."

The guard with the earwig pressed his finger to his ear, listening to a message. Then he spoke. "Ma'am, the General would like to know if you've been to the base since you returned?"

Janet waited a beat before answering. "No, but I'd prefer to report to him directly."

"That's not possible at the moment, Ma'am," the other guard said while advancing on Janet quite menacingly. Janet was the only one not surprised when she heard screeching tyres and the car speeding off. Good, whatever was going on here, she didn't want Cassie involved, and she also wanted the Colonel to know.

"Where did she go?" the soldier demanded.

Janet carefully looked at the man and the uniform he wore. "Airman, I don't know who you think you're speaking to but I'm a Major in the United States Air Force and if you're here legitimately then you will give me the respect worthy of my rank. If not, then explain your business and why you have a decorated Major General under house arrest."

As she completed her piece the two men began to stand to attention in her presence.

"Ma'am, we meant no disrespect but we're here to ensure the safety of the General and the British Ambassador. You can't speak to the General until we confirm exactly who you are and whether you pose a threat."

Janet shook her head and thought over what she was hearing. "I take it you aren't used to clandestine missions?" she asked, rubbing her forehead.

"I beg your pardon, Ma'am?" The young airman was perplexed.

Janet sighed. "Okay, I'll make this easy for you. My name is Dr Janet Frasier and I work in Cheyenne Mountain. Now, if General Hammond's inside, he'll be able to verify who I am, that I'm here at his command, and that I have information to share with him."

Suddenly the door behind the men opened and Hammond walked out past the guards and into the garden. "Doctor, forgive the security measures. There've been some developments." He looked past her. "Is Cassandra not with you?"

"No, Sir. Given the GI Joe twins here, I expect Cassie got scared and has gone home to report that you've been taken prisoner." Janet blanched at her own tone, realising at once how much she sounded like Jack and how she should not be speaking in that tone to her CO.

"Oh." Hammond looked perplexed and thought for a moment before asking, "Who's she going to be telling?"

"Well, Sir, you did send me on a mission this morning and I was successful…"

"Excellent. Very good, Doctor. Please come in and meet the Ambassador. It seems the President's in danger and it's up to us to rescue him."

Janet followed an almost bouncing Hammond into his house, preparing to discover exactly how the President could be in danger and how on earth, a Major General, a Doctor, and two overly enthusiastic Airmen were going rescue him.

 _ **AN: Thanks for reading. Hope you are still enjoying, thanks for your support. More to come shortly, I promise.**_


	12. Chapter 12: Cassie to the rescue!

Chapter 12

 _I'm so sorry for the delay here. Real life got very real and I just couldn't do story. However here is chapter 12, and another one later this weekend. Thanks for the support and reviews, they do make me smile. Enjoy._

Cassandra Frasier was panicking but managed to keep to the speed limit so as not to attract attention. But she needed to get home. She drove through the streets, mindful to check that no one was following her, amazed at what she could remember from her lessons with her Uncle T. When she got home, she pulled the car into the driveway, jumped out and ran up the pathway. She flung open the door and began to scream for help.

"Jack! Sam! Daniel! Teal'c!" Cassandra ran to the back of the house where she'd left SG-1 over 30 minutes earlier.

All four had got to their feet before she'd even entered the room.

"Cass," Jack took command, taking hold of her shoulders. "Calm down. What's wrong?"

"We went to Uncle George's house and there were soldiers there. Mom got out to go to the door and one of the men grabbed her. She's in danger. Uncle George is in danger, too. C'mon." Cassandra pulled out of Jack's grasp, trying to get them to move.

Sam stepped in front of the anxious girl. "Cass, slow down. If, and I say _if_ things are as bad as you fear, then we can't go anywhere, except away from here, in case someone's followed you."

Cassie face was crestfallen. "But we need to save them!"

Jack looked at his team before answering. "And we will, Cassie, but whatever we're involved in goes right to the President. If we go over there and your mom and Hammond have been taken, then all that'll happen is we fall into the trap, too."

Cassie took a deep breath. "So what do we do?" She looked at Jack.

Jack smiled. "We do what we always do, gain some Intel. Okay, let's take two angles at this. Either Frasier and Hammond are in trouble, or there were two airman at Hammond's because he wanted protection."

Sam, realising where he was going with the theory, kept it going, "So, before we do anything, we need to find out which one it is." She stopped for a moment. "Cassie needs to call Hammond."

The others looked at her, surprised at the suggestion, so she elaborated. "Look, either the two guys have kidnapped Janet, in which case they wouldn't answer and we'd be able to draw some conclusions, or, like you said, everything's relatively okay. In that case, Hammond would answer."

Daniel looked at Sam. "Well, it would give us more of an idea…"

Before Daniel could finish what he was saying, Jack snapped to attention when he heard another vehicle in the street and started issuing orders. "Let's make this happen, people." He turned to his team one by one. "Teal'c, take point in the front room. Make sure no one's followed Cassie here. Carter, the doc has weapons in her safe. You know the combination. Get one for each of us. Daniel, you go with Cassie. Make the call and see what we're up against."

The others separated and left the kitchen. Jack took out Janet's laptop and plugged it in. Now he was back in the US, he had contacts that he could use to help them. He just needed to contact them. He could hear Teal'c and Carter moving around and listened out for Cassandra's voice as he got the laptop up and running.

In the living room, Daniel was sitting beside Cassie, who was holding his hand for comfort as she dialled the familiar number, setting it on speaker phone, and waited for it to be answered.

"Hello," a deep voice answered the call.

"Uncle George?" Cassie asked quietly.

"Oh, Cassandra! I was so worried when you drove off. Are you alright?"

Cassie looked to Daniel and he nodded for her to answer. "I'm fine. Is my mom okay?"

"Yes, she's here. I'll let you talk to her."

Cassie waited with trepidation. If he let her mom talk then they'd get an immediate answer as to whether there was trouble. They had code words, one word for 'danger', one word for 'all is well'. Cassie knew that one simple word would decide how this conversation would go.

"Cassie? Is that you sweetheart?"

"Yeah, Mom. I did what you asked."

"Good girl. Honey, everything's fine. Nothing happened in Toronto, okay?"

Cassie looked to Daniel and smiled. Her mom had given her the all clear. "That's great, Mom."

"Honey, is the Colonel there?"

"I'll just go get him." Cassie stood up and then shouted out, "Jack! Mom needs to talk to you!"

Jack was at the door to the room before Cassie had finished her sentence and called out, "Doc, we heard reports of your kidnapping."

"Just some over-enthusiastic recruits, Sir. Nothing to worry about."

"Well, that's good to hear!"

"Sir, General Hammond would like you all to come over here. There's a lot more of this story for you to hear."

Daniel looked at Jack and then turned back to the phone and said, "You sure everything's okay, Janet?" giving her the chance to confirm.

"Yes, Daniel, it's Toronto all the way."

Jack looked at Daniel and Cassie, and then looked over at Sam, who'd come in with the weapons from Janet's safe when she'd heard the conversation. Sam nodded at Jack on hearing her friend use the code word and Jack nodded back then spoke firmly, "Then we'll be right with you, Doc."

Daniel ended the call then turned to Jack for his orders,

"Daniel, Teal'c, check the house is locked up tight. Carter, bring those small arms, does Janet have any radio's in the house?"

"They're charging in the study." Cassie stated.

"Good, Carter grab them and Janet's laptop, it's in the kitchen. Cassie, you're with me."

Jack and Cassie went out to Janet's car and waited for the others to join them. They then made their way to Hammond's, Jack's paranoia causing them to take a roundabout route and stop a few streets behind Hammond's address. He turned the engine off and then turned around to look at everyone. "Right, Carter, you're with me. We're getting out here and will go around to the back of Hammond's place. Daniel, you'll drive to Hammond's place as if nothing's happened, okay?" He waited for his nod before continuing. "Teal'c, you're in charge. Keep your eyes open and make sure you keep the others safe. If everything's okay, give us three clicks on the walkie-talkie. If not, we'll mount a rescue."

Jack made sure that everyone understood what they were to do and then took one of the weapons Sam was handing out to SG-1. He waited while she handed the laptop to Cassie and the second radio to Daniel then he and Sam then got out of the car. They waited for Daniel to get into the driver's seat and drive off before disappearing into the night.

No one in the car said anything until they were driving down Hammond's street, when Teal'c made an observation. "Daniel Jackson, there are several military personnel watching us from camouflaged locations."

"Yeah, I can see them, Teal'c. They're either really bad at covert ops or something's going on."

Cassie, very quietly, asked, "Do you think Mom's in danger?"

Daniel and Teal'c shared a look, then Daniel replied. "She was given two chances and said the right code word each time, so I think she's fine. We just don't want to take any chances."

Daniel pulled up in Hammond's front drive and the three of them got out. Teal'c made a point of putting Cassie between him and Daniel, before pulling himself up to his tallest height and moving towards the door.

The two guards who'd been there before took one look at Teal'c and began to visibly shrink.

"Tell General Hammond that Teal'c, Daniel Jackson and Cassandra Frasier have arrived." His commanding voice boomed, causing one airman to knock with trepidation on the door.

This time the door was opened by Janet, who immediately pulled Cassie into a full hug. She looked at the two men who were with her daughter. "Where are the Colonel and Sam?"

"We must go inside, Doctor Frasier." Teal'c didn't want to answer until he knew there was no threat.

Janet looked at him strangely but complied. "Sure, the General's waiting. Cassie, Tessa and Kayla are upstairs. Would you mind keeping them entertained?"

"Uh, sure, Mom. Is everything really okay?" Cassie looked from her mom to Daniel and Teal'c.

Teal'c moved to again protect Cassie, "Cassandra remains with us until I believe the situation to be safe." He then strode into the house, assessing every room that he came across. He found Hammond, an older woman he didn't know, and several men with many medals on their uniforms sitting on sofas in a large open-plan living and dining area at the back of Hammond's house.

"Teal'c, Daniel, Cassandra, come on in." Hammond stood to greet his guests. "Allow me to introduce Ambassador Marjorie Smythe, Colonel James Perry, and his squad from Andrew's Air Force base." Hammond looked past the newcomers. "Are Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter not with you?"

Teal'c kept his focus on Hammond. "Are you under any duress General Hammond?"

Although used to the Jaffa's brusqueness he was a little taken aback. "No, Teal'c. We're the rescue party."

Teal'c and Daniel looked at each other and, at Teal'c's nod, Daniel took the radio out of his pocket and clicked it three times. "They should be here soon, General," Daniel said, moving over to the ambassador. "Ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Doctor Jackson, this is Teal'c, and Cassandra, Janet's daughter."

Daniel was just about to sit down when there was a knock on the glass window and Sam and Jack stood there, waiting to be let in. He walked over and opened the door for them.

Hammond nodded at his two best officers. "Good of you to join us, Colonel, Major. I was just making introductions. Perhaps you know…

"James! What brings you out west?" Jack asked as the man behind Hammond stood up.

"Long story, Jack, but we're here to help."

"As I was about to say," Hammond began, "Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, please meet Colonel Perry and his elite squad, and the British Ambassador to the United States, Marjorie Smythe." Hammond's tone told Jack to reign it in a little, so Jack shook hands nicely and then sat where Hammond indicated he should.

Jack waited until SG-1 were all seated and Cassie had been convinced it was safe to leave the adults together before his irreverence let loose again, "Well, General, it's quite the party you've got here. What's the occasion?"

 **AN: So this was a bit of a linking chapter to the next section when we get our team ready to save the President.**


	13. Chapter 13:Perry's Strange Day

Chapter 13 – Perry's strange day

 _I'm so sorry for not posting last weekend. Here is the continuation of the story. Enjoy_

 _Previously_

 _Jack waited until SG-1 were all seated and Cassie had been convinced it was safe to leave the adults together before saying, "Well, General, it's quite the party you've got here. What's the occasion?"_

"Colonel," Hammond nodded in Marjorie's direction, "it's not my story to tell, so I'm going to hand over the floor to Ambassador Smythe."

"Thank you, General. "The older woman nodded her head graciously then turned to address Jack and the rest of his team. "Colonel, ever since you were feared dead in an explosion in Scotland, I've been in touch with the White House, trying to ascertain the causes of the explosion. It was to that end that I visited the President to try and ensure that our two countries were cooperating to their fullest. However, this morning, when I met with the President, I was faced with a most alarming situation. On the surface all looked well but, when we were alone, he told me that he'd been compromised and that the Goa'uld had infiltrated his command. He gave me his Seal Coin and told me to get to Andrews and come here to inform General Hammond of the situation. So I did, and here I am." Marjorie sat back in her seat, happy to have delivered her report for the third time that day.

Hammond, a little surprised that the ambassador was so succinct, turned to the Colonel who was sitting next to the Ambassador. "Colonel Perry, perhaps you can take SG-1 though the rest."

"Of course, Sir. I've seen a lot but don't think I've had many stranger days than this one." He turned to SG-1 and began to relate his tale.

 _Flashback_

Andrew's Air Force base was a busy place. It was the place from where all the dignitaries, including the President, flew out. There were many buildings, including a state-of-the-art hospital, and there were several squadrons stationed there. However today, when an Ambassador's entourage swept onto the base, it had been Colonel Perry's squad that had been hustled into the hangar.

"Young man, I don't care who you think you are, but you will summon the most senior officer on this base and you will find me a secure room in which to speak to him!"

Colonel Perry, not really comfortable with politicians but realising he was actually the person the woman desired to see, walked up to where she was tearing a strip off one of his airmen.

"Ma'am, I believe you are looking for me."

Marjorie Smythe looked the new arrival up and down. Reasonably well turned out, his Air Force blue, short-sleeved shirt was well pressed and the eagles on his shoulder told of his rank.

"Very well, Colonel, although I believe I'm likely to need the aid of someone of a higher rank than you before we're done."

"Ma'am, I'm the most senior officer on the base at the present."

"Then do you have somewhere we can talk? This is a matter of national security."

"We do, Ma'am. But could I check your personal details first?"

Marjorie looked aghast at having to go through the same process as she'd already gone through at the gate and then again in this hanger she'd been directed to. However, she calmed down, realising that it was this level of security that kept countries safe. She nodded to Kevin, who handed over their passports and diplomatic papers to the Colonel. "My name is Marjorie Smythe and I'm the United Kingdom Ambassador to the United States. I've been sent here as there's a situation that needs delicate handling and I was told this was the place to start."

Perry looked at the papers and, seeing everything was in order, pointed towards the stairs at the other end of the hangar. "Ma'am, if it's true that you'll need to speak with someone higher up in the chain of command, then I suggest we head to the office where we can contact General Maynard, Chief of the Air Force, if necessary."

Once Perry's squad and Marjorie and her assistant were seated in the small office, Perry suggested that she state her business. Marjorie didn't speak but simply passed the Coin she'd received from the President across the table. It wasn't until the Colonel had picked it up that he realised exactly what he was holding. "This is the Presidential Seal?" he enquired, now understanding why the lady in front of him had wanted privacy.

Marjorie nodded.

"You got this from the President, I take it?"

"Yes, not more than an hour ago."

Perry sat back in his seat. He'd been told about this coin and what it arriving here would mean. He'd just never imagined it would happen on his watch. "I assume you're aware of the authority that comes with the coin?" he asked quietly.

"Well, I was told that on seeing it, anyone in the armed forces would do exactly what I told them to do. Would that cover it?"

Perry rubbed his chin as he considered Marjorie's words, showing the seriousness of the thoughts going around his head. She was absolutely right and the only way she'd know that was if the President had told her. Perry well remembered the first meeting he'd had with the Head of the Air Force, General Maynard, and the President himself when this coin had been discussed. He'd heard rumours of a top-secret programme being run out of Colorado and this coin was a precaution in case something went seriously wrong. He and a selection of high ranking officers from strategic bases around the country had been read in on the Stargate programme at the start of the President's term so they'd be able to assist if worse came to worst. If the President had given up his Coin, then he could only surmise that the worst had happened.

"Ma'am, you've found the correct officer. I was instructed to assist anyone who came with this coin. Now, please tell me exactly what the President said. I believe that time will be of the essence."

Marjorie took a moment to consider the officer in front of her before agreeing to tell him what the President had instructed her to do. "He told me that he'd been compromised and that I was to get a message to General Hammond. Can I ask, Colonel, if all of your squad know about the programme in Cheyenne Mountain?" She didn't want to blurt something out that would cause any more issues.

Perry looked at his men, most of whom had no idea about the Stargate, then back at the perceptive woman in front of him. "We're all aware that the Air Force has a base there, Ma'am, but not the full particulars. I've been read in to top secret level."

"Very well. I trust you to inform your men of what they need to know. I and my assistant need to get to Colorado now, preferably without anyone else knowing that we've gone. I believe at some point you'll have to discuss this issue with your superiors. However, I wasn't sent to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs or General Maynard, but to you. Perhaps the President is unsure how far the compromise extends at the top of your administration."

"Ma'am, did he give you any idea about where the compromise was?"

"He told me there was a plot to kill members of a team from the mountain and possibly take over the programme or the country. I got the distinct impression he was afraid of his Chief of Staff and that he was worried that infiltration of Cheyenne Mountain had already begun."

"And what were his specific orders?"

"I was to travel here immediately, speak to you," she waved her arm at Perry, "Travel to Colorado to speak to General Hammond, order the clear out of unofficial personnel there, and set in motion the rescue of a team based out of the mountain. All using the power of that coin there."

"Well, Ma'am," Perry said as he picked up the coin, "This coin gives you the complete authority of the Commander in Chief. And, having presented it to me, I'll follow your orders. You have two options. An air force Learjet can be made ready in an hour, or a cargo plane in about 30 minutes. What are your orders, Ma'am?"

"Would I be right in assuming that fewer people would notice a cargo plane going from one base to another than they would an official jet?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I'd say so, but the cargo plane wouldn't be a comfortable ride."

"Colonel, your concern for my comfort is noted, however, given the grave nature of this situation, I suspect you could find a pillow somewhere that I could take with me."

Perry chuckled at the response. "Then I think we can have you, my squad, and a pillow in the air very soon."

Several hours later their plane was nearing Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Perry looked across the cargo plane at Marjorie, who was holding the coin while sitting like a queen on her plush pillow throne.

"Sir," the pilot's voice broke into his musings, "Can you come to the cockpit? Peterson is requesting our flight information and authorisation."

Perry moved forward to talk to the controller on the ground. This had always been the possible awkward part of the operation as really they had no authorisation. So, once he'd swapped places with the co-pilot and put on the headphones, he cleared his throat and, in his most stern voice, stated, "This is Colonel James Perry. I have onboard with me an official representative from the President. I am requesting permission to land and will get you authorisation if you get me a secure line to speak to General Hammond at Cheyenne Mountain."

While he waited for the tower at Peterson to respond and for them to reach Hammond on the secure line, he thought about the conversations he and Marjorie had had during the flight. Marjorie had told the Colonel about the President's concerns and he in turn had shared his concerns about whether the SGC had already been compromised. They could be walking, or flying, into a trap, and they both knew it.

 **AN: This was a good place to stop before we hear about the ambassador meeting with Hammond. I will aim to get another chapter up in the next couple of days. Thanks for reading.**


	14. Chapter 14: Meeting the Ambassador

Chapter 14

 **I'm so sorry for the delay folks, thanks for your patience and to the guest reviewer for the little nudge to get me posting again. So here is the chapter in which Marjorie meets Hammond.**

 _Previously_

 _Colonel Perry had explained how he had come to be involved in taking the UK ambassador to Colorado. Now the story continues._

Perry finished his part of the story and turned the floor over to Hammond, who continued on from where Perry had stopped, bringing SG-1 right up to date.

 _Flashback_

General George Hammond had had to be a very patient man in his life. He'd been Air Force for a long time and in that time he'd run a variety of commands that had all required different skills, but they'd all demanded patience. Whether it was waiting for Intel or for the right moment to attack, or for information on missing comrades, patience was definitely a virtue. Today, however, was testing his patience to the limit. He'd had to watch his elite team leaving separately for different places all over the world, and had then been faced with the arrival of the NID who, when they arrived, told him very little but raised enough suspicions that he was worried about the safety of his team. Now he'd spent several hours trying to outfox the same agents who were determined to find out the location of his team, something which he happily couldn't actually help them with as he had no idea where his team was. Well, that was obviously a little exaggerated. He thought he knew where they were but he had no proof. He was going to have to wait until later that evening to receive that information and then deal with the fallout.

The phone on his desk rang loudly in the quiet office. He picked it up and barked, "Yes!"

"General," Hammond heard his assistant Harriman speak, "There's a cargo plane asking permission to land at Peterson. They say there's a representative of the President onboard and they want to talk to you on a secure line so you can authorise their arrival."

"I'll come down, Sergeant. Set up the line." Hammond rose from his chair and moved down to the control room, a little concerned at this new development. He cautiously looked around, checking the personnel who were present and whether a secure call could be made in their presence. He was happy to see that none of the NID agents were there and he knew he could trust all those present. "Lieutenant," he addressed the man sitting beside Harriman, "I need you to get me a sit-rep on our visitors. Check all the cameras and keep an eye on the entrances to this room. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir," the Lieutenant replied and immediately began searching the security systems to find the men and follow them.

"Sergeant, is the line set up?

"Yes, Sir." Walter turned and handed his commander the headphones so he'd be the only one to hear the conversation.

Hammond adjusted the set and spoke. "This is General Hammond, Commander of this facility. To whom am I speaking?"

"Sir, this is Colonel James Perry from Andrews. I have with me a representative sent from the President himself and with his authority. We ask permission to land and to speak with you in person. This is a matter of utmost secrecy."

"Colonel, you do not need me to tell you that this is highly unorthodox. We have no record of your flight plan nor did we expect your visit."

"I understand that, Sir. However, the President has sent his seal with this representative. You're aware of the power that coin yields?"

Hammond was struck dumb. Never in his whole career had he ever been aware of a situation where the seal of the president had left the President's possession but it seemed it had now happened. He'd been at the meeting in DC when this President had outlined his plans for its use and knew that he could do nothing else except act as if his Commander in Chief had given an order to him directly. "Very well, Colonel. I'll give Peterson my permission for you to land and have a vehicle bring you to the mountain. I'll meet you up top."

"General, perhaps you may want to enact the first order from the President. He wishes you to detain anyone in your base who's not normally on your personnel roster."

Hammond smiled. "With pleasure, Colonel. I'll give permission to the tower for you to land, execute the order, and then be with you soon."

Hammond pulled off the headset. "Lieutenant, have you found our visitors?"

"Yes, Sir. They're in the VIP quarters on Level 18."

"Very good." He turned to Harriman. "Sergeant, please have Colonel Reynolds and SG-3 report to the control room."

"Yes, Sir."

Hammond turned back to the officer beside Harriman as SG-3 was paged. "Lieutenant, you keep a firm eye on those men. If they so much as sneeze I want to know about it."

"Yes, Sir."

Only moments later Reynolds came up the stairs from the corridor below.

"You wanted to see me, General Hammond? Is there word on SG-1?"

"Not yet, Colonel. However, I need you to take this as a direct order from the President. Take your team and a unit of SFs and secure the VIP room on Level 18. The men are not allowed to leave. If they question you or cause any trouble, you may arrest them."

Hammond turned to Walter. "Sergeant, let Peterson know that the plane has my permission to land. Get them to organise a vehicle on the double and tell them to escort the passengers here to the mountain."

"Yes, Sir." Walter picked up the phone and was soon relaying the order.

Hammond turned back to Reynolds. "I'm going to meet some guests who will hopefully tell us more about what's going on here. I'm leaving you in command, Colonel, in case today gets any stranger and something prevents me from returning."

"Yes, Sir. And if you don't return?"

"The President has ordered the base be secured from all non-base personnel. You, Colonel, are going to ensure that it stays secured. If you believe I've been compromised, you lock down the base. Understood?"

Reynolds nodded and left.

Hammond watched as Reynolds left and then made his way to the elevator. During the long rise to the surface, Hammond reflected on everything that was going on and considered the possibility, and hoped, that his missing team were also on the plane. That could explain all the secrecy.

When he reached the surface and was signing out of the base, he was told by the guard that Walter had left a message saying that the NID agents had preferred to be moved to the cells rather than stay in the VIP quarters. The guard looked puzzled at the message, not getting the joke. Hammond just chuckled at the comment from his assistant, thinking how irate the agents must have been to have been locked up, and couldn't help but imagine the scene 18 floors below.

Hammond used the phone at the checkpoint to contact the guards at the front gate. He notified them about the group who would soon arrive. He was able to give the Colonel's details and assured them that they were friendlies. It wasn't long before a green lorry appeared on the road leading up to the base. It was let through security with little fuss and soon came to a stop in front of Hammond. The driver got down and spoke to Hammond.

"Sir, the Colonel requests that instead of going inside the base, you join him in the back of the truck. He says he has security concerns. I tried to tell him this was the most secure base we had but..."

"That's fine, son. I'll get in the back. But due to the fact we _are_ the most secure base you won't be able to get inside the mountain. But, you go inside with the guard at the checkpoint and keep warm."

Hammond and the driver shared a smile at the irony then Hammond walked to the back of the lorry. The back flap was dropped down and he was able to see inside. He was a little disappointed not to see his top team but was even more intrigued by the people inside. The airmen inside the lorry helped him up, not the easiest of tasks. Once he was inside, Perry and his team tried their best to stand and salute and Hammond quickly returned the salute so they could all sit down and get on with business. Perhaps the oddest person he noticed was an older woman seated on what could only be described as a ridiculous and very colourful huge cushion.

"General Hammond," Perry said, "I'm Colonel Perry. Thank you for trusting me enough to let us onto your base." He pointed to Marjorie. "This is the UK Ambassador to the United States, Mrs Marjorie Smythe. She's the one in possession of the President's Seal. With your permission, I'd like my squad to take point around the lorry to ensure our safety and privacy while we speak to the ambassador."

Hammond nodded to the Colonel, understanding the move was more about privacy than security, but if this Colonel felt they needed to talk alone then he'd agree. He moved to sit beside the woman while Perry gave his squad orders.

Hammond reached out his hand to shake the Ambassador's hand. "Very nice to meet you, Ma'am. I hope you'll be able to enlighten me on some of the events over the last 24 hours." Once the other airman were out of earshot he continued quietly. "I assume you're involved due to the explosion in Scotland."

"General Hammond, I'm keen to report everything I've been told. However, first, I'd like to know whether the President was right and that there were people on your base that needed to be dealt with?"

"Yes, Ma'am. They're currently under arrest 18 floors below us. They arrived in the early hours this morning and appeared to have a great deal of knowledge about my team and what had befallen them."

Marjorie nodded then waited as Colonel Perry rejoined them. "Your team is why I'm here, General. The President has ordered you to use all means necessary to find them and ensure they're safe."

"That's already in hand, Ma'am. I've sent a small... team to hopefully locate them and they should report back soon." He didn't want to give away the fact that the team consisted of a doctor and a teenager.

"Good. That was the second order of business. The third is more controversial." Marjorie removed the coin from her bag. "The President has given me complete authority over the United States armed forces. He told me that he's been compromised at the highest level by the Goa'uld, who have enacted a plot to kill SG-1 and take over or destroy certain artefacts that the Goa'uld have knowledge of."

Hammond had thought he was prepared for anything but this was something he hadn't expected to hear. Mindful of the airmen just outside the lorry, he tried to keep his voice down as he exclaimed, "The Goa'uld! In the White House? My God! Do you know how or who?"

"No, although I'd say he appeared afraid of his Chief of Staff."

"David Martin! Why, that's his closest friend and ally! Are you sure?"

"I have no evidence other than the look on the President's face when he joined us in the garden. The President had taken me into the garden to discuss matters and had even removed his jacket. I'd assumed at first because of the heat, but then I wondered if it had something to do with any listening devices. He only spoke of the threat when we were alone. He clammed up and changed the subject when this Mr Martin appeared."

Hammond took a deep breath. "If they've gotten to the Chief of Staff, they could get to anyone in the administration or the Joint Chiefs."

"Sir," Perry said, getting the General's attention. "That was also our concern. Mrs Smythe wasn't sent by the President to General Maynard but to the most senior officer at Andrews, which I was when she arrived. We've discussed it and it seems clear to me that the President isn't sure of the loyalty of the Joint Chiefs or he would have contacted them. Now, Mr Martin wasn't present at the meeting I had at the start of the President's term in office which outlined the use of the Seal Coin so it's possible that the Goa'uld have no idea that we have a safety net with the coin, so to speak, in case of the President being compromised."

Hammond looked at the younger officer and nodded. "I concur."

"General," Marjorie began, "The President sent me to you. He expects you to act. I don't have the strategic expertise to mount a mission but you do. Colonel Perry and his men are here to assist you and to protect me. We need to ensure that this vile enemy does not get his way."

 **AN: Thanks for reading, and if I don't post again before the 25th, have a very happy Christmas.**


	15. Chapter 15: Making a plan

Chapter 15

 _Here is chapter 15, thanks for the support. Hope you enjoy._

Hammond finished explaining how they'd come to this point. "So I had Colonel Perry call his men back into the lorry and then explained everything to them after they'd signed the appropriate national security forms."

Jack was about to butt in, clearly with concern over another group of people knowing the greatest secret the country had, but Hammond waved his concern away with a flick of his wrist. "It was part of the plan from the beginning, Jack. We knew that if the President were ever at risk enough to warrant giving up his Coin, then any members of the US armed forces needed to help in the situation would have to be read in to the programme. And so now, here we are."

Perry looked at the sceptical look on Jack's face and spoke to his friend. "They're good men, Jack. A bit shocked at the revelation but ready to help in whatever way is deemed necessary."

Jack nodded and turned to Hammond. "So, what's the plan, General?"

"Honestly, Colonel, I don't have one. But I think it would be useful to hear what has happened to you all in the last 48hours, I assume that the fact Dr Frasier found you, means that you executed Plan C?"

"Yes Sir, I know we discussed the sensitivity of using the devices but in the circumstances..."

"You did the right thing Colonel. Now update me on your situations please."

Jack looked around, seeing he had everyone's attention, he began to speak.

"Well, Sir, it was pretty obvious before we all left that something was wrong, and it all went to hell in a handbasket very quickly. You know from the Ambassador" he pointed to Marjorie, "And the news that there was an explosion in Scotland. I wasn't caught in it but it's pretty clear it was meant for me as well as the technology I was sent to look at. Have you been told about Carter's contact?"

"The members of the NID made it clear that she was involved in his death. I didn't believe that, of course." Hammond gave an encouraging smile to Sam.

"Carter arrived at her meeting place after he was killed but, again, she was also a target. They put a bomb in her car that exploded just after she got out."

Hammond was concerned at that new piece of news and looked over the Major to check she was uninjured. When Sam nodded back at him so he looked at the other two members of SG1. "I assume Dr Jackson didn't kidnap two British students, as was reported in the news?" Hammond asked.

Jack squirmed. "It depends on your definition of kidnapped, Sir. They had to come with us when I ordered Plan C. There was no other option. One of them was shot when Daniel and Teal'c were ambushed in France and they couldn't be left there when someone was trying to kill them."

"They're safe, though?"

"Yes, Sir. We had to sedate them for a bit but we got some useful information out of them first."

"So, now we come to it. What exactly is going on, Colonel?"

"I think it'd be better leaving this part to Carter and Daniel, Sir. They understand it all better than me." He indicated to Daniel to start talking.

Daniel nodded to Jack and then turned to Hammond. "General, this all seems to have begun with a Russian scientist who was studying strange power signals coming from Orkney and the Great Barrier Reef. I have to say at this point that the theories are so bizarre and unsubstantiated that I seriously doubt they're correct."

"We know, Danny." Jack sighed. "But we all agreed that someone must've believed them for all this to be happening. Just fill the General in."

Daniel glanced over at Jack. "Okay." He turned back to Hammond. "So, from what we can gather, Marko, a Russian scientist, believed he'd found evidence of power sources. The one in Orkney was part of a ring system there, and a cave system in France had pictographs pointing to it. The other one, the one in Australia, is a bit more complex. Sam's checked the underwater maps but couldn't see anything manmade. We'd have to check that out at some point in the future. Anyway, Marko sent an email about his theory to a variety of people, including Jack, and it must've caught someone's attention." He looked around at everyone before turning back to Hammond, looking him directly in the eyes. "We also found that Osiris has been on earth."

"Osiris?! Without our knowledge?"

"Yes, Sir. She's taken a position at Oxford University and is the one who orchestrated the students' work in the caves. They were able to identify her by picture and name. Sarah Gardiner is their professor. She's also had contact with the White House."

Jack jumped in, "Which brings us right back to the President and a Goa'uld presence in the administration."

Jack then turned to the Ambassador. "You believe it's the Chief of Staff?"

"As I told Colonel Perry and General Hammond, I have no proof and the President gave no names but yes, the way he reacted to the Chief of Staff wasn't natural and would indicate there was something wrong."

Jack stood and started walking around the room. He always thought better on his feet. "Well, as I see it, Sir, the plan's going to involve a trip to DC and getting into the White House to rescue the President. But we need to do it in a way that doesn't put him in any further danger. If the Goa'uld is in his inner circle, it wouldn't take much for that snake to jump into him. We need to ensure that that doesn't happen."

"I agree, Colonel, but how?"

The room was silent for a few seconds before Perry spoke up. "He needs to be in danger."

Jack turned abruptly to his old colleague. "Come again?"

"Well, let's consider normal presidential security protocol. If the Secret Service consider him to be in danger, they'll remove him from the situation. If we do it subtly and quickly with a few of the contacts you and I have, we should have him out of the White House and onto Air Force One at Andrews in a matter of minutes."

"Would that not alarm the Goa'uld?" Teal'c asked.

Jack thought for a moment. "No, it's standard protocol. The Secret Service have to plan for all eventualities. But if we wanted to get him on Air Force One then he'd have to be somewhere less secure than the White House."

"Why?" asked Daniel.

"Because the White House is the most secure building for the President so they'd never remove him. Putting him in a helicopter to get to the plane is less secure so they wouldn't do it. He'd have to already be out of the White House ..."

"So we need to know exactly what the President has on tomorrow," Perry concluded.

Marjorie looked at Perry. "I know just how to do that." She turned to her assistant. "Kevin, you're now going to prove to these people exactly why you're the best assistant in the business. Without it being known that I'm the one asking, I want you to find out what the President's schedule is tomorrow. Can you manage that?"

Kevin simply smiled at his boss, and took out his cell. "No problem, Ma'am. I'll have that information for you in no time." He turned to Hammond. "With your permission, General, can I use another room in the house to make the calls?"

"Yes, of course, son. The study's just down the hall." Hammond pointed to the door to his left.

Jack walked over to the large dining table and then to the dresser and began looking in the drawers. "General, you have any paper to make some plans on?"

"Uh, Sir," Sam began, looking at Jack, "Meaning no offence, but these days we use this modern thing called a laptop." She reached over for Janet's laptop that Cassie had left on the coffee table then stood and walked over to the dining table and sat down.

Jack harrumphed then said grudgingly, "I was just testing you, Carter." He deliberately ignored the smirks on many of the faces around the room and as he moved to stand behind his 2IC.

"Okay, James," Jack began, "I have some old buddies who entered the Secret Service but any enquiries from you would look less suspicious. Do you know anyone in the Secret Service?"

"I have one possible contact there but, to be honest, I think I'm going to be more useful with Andrews."

"Sir," Sam began, looking at Jack, "Following your theory, we need to come up with a reasonable plan for the President to be taken to Air Force One, without his Chief of Staff. Is that even possible?"

"Well, Major," Marjorie spoke up before Jack had a chance to reply, "From my dealings with the administration, it would be unusual for the Chief of Staff to attend official functions, unless they were run by the Party. It would all depend on what Kevin finds out for us." She looked up to the open doorway, not surprised to see her assistant standing there.

"Well, Ma'am, my contacts suggest that tomorrow the President will be in meetings all day in the White House. So I took the liberty of checking out the next few days. Ma'am, as you're aware, the State Department is holding a dinner for the ambassadors of selected countries, including ours, on Friday night. The President is attending and I have it on good authority that his Chief of Staff won't be there."

Jack looked at the Ambassador and her assistant. "Where's the dinner?"

"At the State Department," Marjorie replied.

Jack looked around at the others in the room. "That could work."

"So," Daniel asked, "What's the plan?"

Jack sat down next to Carter at the dining table and pulled the laptop over before opening an email window. "Well, the State Department is about as secure as the White House, so we're talking about grabbing the President during the trip to the Truman Building or on the way back."

"On the way back would be better, Colonel," Marjorie suggested, "Because I'd then be able to speak to him beforehand and warn him. We could then ensure that the President was fully on board with our plan."

Jack glanced at Sam. "And if Major Carter were to attend the dinner with you, she'd be able to tell if there was a Goa'uld in the room."

"Wait a sec, Jack," Daniel jumped in. "If Sam's seen by the wrong people, they'll know we're all alive."

"Doctor Jackson is correct," Hammond added. "At the moment, the only people who know you've all returned safely are in this room. We need to be very careful. The President said this was a threat against you four as well as an attempt to destroy some vital technology."

"Sir," Carter spoke up, "I think it's safe to assume that the technology is lost to us."

"What makes you assume that, Major?" Hammond asked.

"Well, Sir, it's a matter of access. As Colonel O'Neill explained, in Australia, someone managed to kill the person I was supposed to meet. I now suspect that the scene was set for me to take the blame for the murder. But whatever the plan, they're likely to have taken the time to get access to the technology that Marko believed was in the ocean off the coast. If they haven't already destroyed it, then they at least have it in their possession. The same applies to Scotland. If the technology wasn't completely destroyed by the bomb, then whoever set it must have had access to it to remove it."

"I disagree, Major," Marjorie interrupted. "I've been in touch with those in Lossiemouth and they haven't let anyone have access to the technology. It wasn't fully destroyed and it would only take a word from me to have it placed in protection and available for your scientists to study."

Jack looked at Sam, who suddenly had a glint in her eye that he recognised from previous technology-induced hazes. "Okay, one thing at a time. We need to get the President to safety and capture the Goa'uld." He looked at his team and then to his commander, who nodded for him to proceed. "Carter, you're the only one who can tell us if the Goa'uld is in the building, so you're going to have to be at the dinner. You'll be undercover and Colonel Perry here and his squad will be your immediate back up."

"Yes, Sir," Carter responded, although she could see from the look on Jack's face that he wasn't happy that SG-1 wouldn't be her back up.

Jack turned to his boss. "General, the first thing we need to plan is whether we all attend the function, if we even can, or let Colonel Perry make contact."

"I have a contact within Diplomatic Security. The head is the son of one of my closest colleagues. I think if we reach out to him at the same time as you're contacting the secret service, then we could all get in to ensure the President is safe. But the three of you," Hammond pointed to SG-1, "Can't be seen until we know for sure that no one working with the Goa'uld is present."

Jack nodded and turned to Perry. "James, I think that unless we can get access most of this is going to be up to you and your boys. I suggest you become the Ambassador's security for the night." He turned to Marjorie. "Ma'am, you have the most risky job. You need to make contact with the President and let him know the plan to get him out of the building and into the vehicle as quickly as possible." Jack looked back at Hammond. "I'll make contact with the Secret Service and by Friday night we should have the President safely at Andrews or, if necessary, on Air Force One."

 **AN: And so the plan is ready for action, thanks for waiting patiently, more to come soon.**


	16. Chapter 16: Finding a new ally

Chapter 16

 _So, we are leaving Colorado and heading back to D.C. This is a short chapter but it helps to set up the next part._

SG-1, along with Hammond, Colonel Perry and the ambassador, arrived at Andrews by cargo plane early on Thursday and then using Perry's connections, went straight into lockdown so that no one knew where they were. Their plan was twofold. One, get the President to a secure, controlled location where they could ensure he wasn't a Goa'uld and then find out exactly what was going on. Two, take out the Goa'uld and his team, wherever they were. Along with that, Carter clearly wanted to look into the research done by Marko, the scientist who seems to have been the one to start the chain of events and had then been killed.

Colonel Perry and Jack had spent most of the time since the meeting in Hammond's house trying to get in touch with old colleagues who could help put the plan in motion. They'd chosen one of their contacts who was a high-up member of the Presidential detail and had managed to convince him, for old times sake, to meet them at the base.

"Jack, you old dog! So, who'd you piss off this time?" The man dressed in black walked to the back of the dark hangar where Jack and SG-1, with Perry's help, had set up a command post and reached out to shake Jack's hand.

"Alex, good to see you. I see the Secret Service is treating you well. You look good."

"Good of you to say, but I assume you didn't call me over here to discuss my devastating good looks. Especially considering POTUS has been wanting updates on you for days."

Jack glared at the younger man. "Tell me you didn't tell him!"

"Jack, give me some credit. It may have been over a decade since I ran special ops with you but I can read between the lines and understand when to keep my mouth shut."

Jack ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, sorry, been a long couple of days. Listen, this is gonna sound crazy, but I need you to meet a colleague of mine, shake her hand, and do all that with a gun pointed at you. Okay?"

Before Alex had a chance to reply, Jack had pulled his service weapon, Teal'c had come out of the shadows with his zat, and Carter was approaching the man to get close enough to see if she felt the presence of a Goa'uld.

"Hey, wait a minute! I came here in good faith!"

"And in about a minute we'll know if it really is you," Jack said, still holding his weapon pointed at his old friend. "Carter?"

Sam walked up closer to the man, always wary that if he was a Goa'uld he could try to capture her. As soon as she was close enough to have a good read of him, she stepped back. "He's clean, Sir. Nothing to worry about."

Both Jack and Teal'c holstered their weapons.

"Mind telling me what the hell's going on?" Alex yelled and then sat down opposite Jack in the chair Jack indicated as he sat down himself.

"Need to know. Sorry, Alex. But I do need your help to keep the President safe. Have you or your guys noticed anything strange with him or his Chief of Staff lately?"

"Are they in danger? Do I need to alert my superiors?" Alex shifted in his seat, ready to move if needed.

"Not right now, but yes, he's in danger. But one wrong move and he could be in even more danger and so could the country. We need to play this very carefully. So, have you noticed anything?"

Alex sat back and thought over his shifts in the last few months. When in the White House, the agents didn't see much of the President. He was in a secure location, after all, so Alex considered the times when he'd been involved in moving the President. "Well, last month we all went up to Camp David but the atmosphere just didn't seem right. Normally when we go there it's all about relaxing. POTUS usually invites family and friends to join him. But this time it was Mr Martin who was doing all the inviting."

"Who was there? Did you catch any names?"

Alex just glared at his old friend then with sarcasm dripping he replied. "Of course I did Jack. It's my job to notice every little detail." Jack had the decency to look sheepish and shrugged waiting for Alex to continue. "So, there were three people. One was a very hot blonde. Her name was Sarah Gardiner. Then there was an older guy who spoke with a Russian accent. He was introduced as Mr Gorenivitch. But now, looking back, something wasn't quite right with them. Then there was a man with a tattoo on his forehead. He seemed to be like a bodyguard. No name given."

Jack sighed, they now had confirmation of their fears. "That's our baddies. You happen to overhear any of their conversation?"

Again, Alex sat back and thought for a moment. "No, sorry. The Chief of Staff kicked us out pretty quickly. Actually, that's kind of unusual, too, although not completely so I didn't think anything of it."

Jack looked at his old comrade. "Alex, we think the President is acting under duress. That meeting was probably one of the times when he was being told to follow orders. We don't know how they're controlling him or to what end but he handed over this." Jack placed the President's Seal on the table.

"He gave this up voluntarily?" Alex reached over for the coin.

"Yup."

"Then you'll have our full cooperation, Jack. We serve at the pleasure of the president but if he chooses to give this to someone else then we follow whoever holds the Coin."

"Okay, here's the plan. The President's going to the State Department dinner tonight. We already have someone inside to tip him off. Can you set up an extraction here to Andrews? You and your team will have complete control of the President at all times but once you're here at Andrews he's under the jurisdiction of the Air Force and we can limit who gets access to him."

"And you're sure that he will be safer here, away from the White House." Alex was dubious about that part of the plan.

"Yeah, we have access to some pretty amazing technology, we can keep him safe."

"Ok. You've got our cooperation."

"Then I'll see you tonight at the State Department." Jack stated.

Both Alex and Jack stood up and shook hands.

_SG1_

 **AN: I'm so sorry for the delay in getting this chapter to you. Life and illness have caught up with me. More will come as soon as I can.**


	17. Chapter 17: The State Department

Chapter 17

 _Hi there, here is the next chapter. Thanks for the good wishes over being ill, feeling better this weekend. The story is now in D.C. and the action is about to ramp up. Enjoy._

Once Marjorie had left the military teams of the operation at Andrew's she had spent Thursday checking in with her office. Even though she'd been off the grid for around 24 hours, it appeared that she hadn't been missed. She was grateful for that and the fact that she'd already planned to attend tonight's function and, as such, she'd sent her gown to the dry cleaners. She'd returned to her residence the previous night and her dress had been waiting for her when she got there. Today she'd only done light work before getting ready for the dinner.

The State Department's showpiece functions were always of a very high standard. They were well practised at the glitter and dancing, as well as the schmoozing and diplomacy that could happen when important people relaxed. Tonight was no exception. The room was set with large tables that were all covered in white covers, with beautiful china plates and silver utensils laid out ready to be used. The music at the dinner was provided by a string quartet who played as the guests arrived.

Marjorie was attending with her assistant Kevin, as usual. Once in the large room, she made sure that she was as attentive as always to the other ambassadors but she had her eye continually on the main door, waiting for the President's arrival. She'd enjoyed the last few days, despite the nightmare of a Goa'uld threat to the world. It had been like being part of her own spy novel. The intrigue, the danger... She hadn't had this much excitement in years!

There was a bustle at the door and, as the great wooden doors were opened, Marjorie got a glimpse of the President. She noticed how tired he looked, even more than he had the day she'd visited the White House. She looked at those who surrounded him and was pleased to see the Secretaries of State and Defence, as well as the US ambassador to the UN, but no Chief of Staff. From the other side of the room, Marjorie watched as a disguised Major Carter, in a waitress outfit, with long black hair and a tray of drinks, made her way towards the group. This was the crucial stage of the operation and the most risky. Major Carter was taking a risk. She could be discovered at any moment or she could even be killed if it turned out that anyone in that group had already been compromised.

Marjorie held her breath, waiting to see if anyone noticed who was serving them. In a minute, that to Marjorie felt like an hour, Sam had served the group their drinks and then backed away from them. Marjorie followed her route through the throng of people to the group of officers trying to blend in along the far wall. She watched as Sam spoke with the men, then one of the young men who had accompanied them to Colorado made his way towards her. She waited with baited breath. When he finally came up beside her he spoke. "Ma'am, compliments of Colonel Perry. You can proceed with the plan."

"Thank you." Marjorie nodded at the man then turned to her assistant. "Kevin, could you see if we can speak to the President as soon as he has a free minute?" She turned and watched as the airman as he headed back towards Perry, as well as Kevin as he walked towards the President. She couldn't hear the conversation between her assistant and the President and his aide but was unsurprised when the President looked up and searched the room for her. As soon as he'd made eye contact he motioned with his hand for her to join them.

"Ambassador Smythe, how wonderful to see you again."

"Mr President, Mr Secretary, what a lovely evening."

"The room does spruce up well, as you British would say." The President smiled.

"Mr President, could we perhaps have a word in private?"

The President looked at her curiously but nodded. He had, after all, sent her on a mission and he needed her to report back.

At his nod, Marjorie guided him to the room that they'd decided would be the best place to have the conversation. It was an internal office with no windows to the outside, only those to the corridor, and they had their blinds drawn. Marjorie entered with the President following, and Alex and one of his colleagues stood guard outside.

As he entered the room, the President tried to take in everyone present and was shocked and delighted when he recognised Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond.

Hammond, as senior officer, stepped forward and held out his hand with the President's Coin between his fingers. "You asked for a rescue mission, Sir, and here we are."

"General… thank you. And Colonel, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!"

"All talk of my death has been greatly exaggerated, Sir. But we don't have much time."

"How do you mean?"

"On your way home, your agents are going to rig a security threat and divert you to Andrews. We can work through our plans to rid you of the Goa'uld threat there."

"No!"

"Sir," Hammond jumped in. "What do you mean? You asked for our help and here we are."

"I can't go to Andrews. If I deviate from the schedule in any way he'll know something's wrong and take out my wife and sons. I can't go to Andrews."

Marjorie sat slowly down on the nearest seat. This was a development that they'd simply not considered. The President truly was under duress and no one else but the people in this room knew it. If anyone else found out they…

Marjorie suddenly spoke. "Where's the Vice President, Sir?"

"He's at the White House. My former best friend has decreed that the two of us can't be away from the building at the same time. Why?"

"And your family. Where are they?" Marjorie continued.

The president looked at his watch. "It's game night. Sandra's at Connor's school watching him play."

Jack, suddenly understanding, added, "And the Chief of Staff?"

"At the White House."

Catching on, Hammond asked, "Does your family have the requisite Secret Service agents, Sir?"

"Yes."

Before the word had even left the President's mouth, Jack was lunging for the door. He yanked it open and quickly said, "Alex, get your men in here now. As many as possible."

Alex used his cuff mike to make the call and a few minutes later they'd all converged on "Eagle" without Alex having to give anything away. The room was cramped but calm and Jack let out a short whistle to get the full attention of all the agents before he briefed them.

"Listen up. I assume some of you have been briefed by Agent Millar here." There were a few nods around the room and Jack took those people to be the leaders of this fine group of people. "Good. Suffice to say, the President and his family are in danger. We need you to do what you do best but the danger is already _in_ the White House. Agent Millar and I have set up a secure area at Andrews. Get whoever you need from wherever they are to Andrews..." He took a breath. "Without alerting anyone at the White House."

There was a general murmur around the room, with everyone agreeing that that was going to be easier said than done, but also acknowledging that they _were_ the Secret Service.

Jack turned to Hammond. "Sir, I'm not sure we have the time to do this mission in two stages. I think we need to take the White House now, too."

"I agree, Colonel, but it would be a heck of a lot easier if we had the backing of the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs."

The President made his way through the group of agents. "Why haven't you already contacted them?"

Jack looked at his boss, quite dumbfounded. "Because we thought that you thought that they couldn't be trusted."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" The President was now surrounded by several surprised people. He looked around, waiting for a reply.

Finally Marjorie answered him. "Mr President, you specifically gave me your Coin and told me to go to Andrews and find the most superior officer there. You didn't tell me to go to the Pentagon or the Joint Chiefs. Our best guess was that you knew something was wrong there."

"Oh, I see." He took a deep breath and his exhaustion could be seen by all. He continued, "Andrews was simply the first place I could think of, and you know those General's they would want to sit in a committee before doing anything. I didn't have much time to get the word out, you were there and I had the opportunity to give you my coin."

There was a moment's silence as the President thought about the next move. "General, in all honesty, I am not totally sure I know who is involved in this plot. It has been going on for several months and my Chief of Staff has kept me out of most of his plans." He grimaced at the reminder of how far this plot had gone. "None of the Joint Chief's have displayed any change in their loyalty, at least in my presence and as far as I am aware there have been no 'off the books' meetings at the Pentagon between them and Mr Martin. I believe it is safe to say that they have not been compromised."

Hammond cleared his throat and nodded. "Sir, you're the one who's been in the middle of all this. If you believe you can trust the Joint Chiefs then I think it's time to tell them what's going on."

_SG1_

 **AN So they have the President but much more is needed to make the country safe again. More soon.**


	18. Chapter 18: Securing the family

Chapter 18

 _So the story continues and we meet the people the President has been protecting, his family. Short but more soon._

Watching their sons play football in Friday night game night at their schools was the one area of family life that the First Lady had refused to change when her husband had been elected as President. First, in the early days of his presidency it was Liam their older son who was playing and now it was Connor, their younger, who would be graduating from highm school just months before his father left office for the last time. Connor was the school's star quarterback and only had a few remaining games to seal a potential football deal to one of the most prestigious colleges in the United States.

Over the last two years Sandra and Connor had developed a routine for game night. Connor would stay at school with his detail and spend time preparing for the match. Sandra would leave the White House and meet with a friend, usually one of the other moms, then they'd get some food and take their places in the bleachers to watch the game. Occasionally, her husband would join them but that was a rarity.

Tonight, everything had gone according to schedule and, most importantly, Connor was on fire. He'd helped the team make six touchdowns. It was by far his best game this season.

Sandra's attention was suddenly pulled from the field to her senior agent as he sat down beside her. This was a change. Normally her detail would stand at the railing just behind and position themselves slightly apart from her but always closely monitoring what was going on, ready to act at a moment's notice.

"Ma'am, we may need to leave ASAP," Tim, her agent, said quietly.

"What's wrong?"

"Not sure, Ma'am, but if Agent Millar's pulling us out then it's serious."

"What about Connor?"

"Well, Ma'am, I hate to say this, given how well he's playing, but we could be talking withdrawal due to an injury or something that doesn't attract too much attention."

"The game only has ten minutes left." She pleaded, "Surely it would draw less attention if we let him play then left at that point."

"I can't promise anything, Ma'am. The word's gone out to prepare to get you and the boys to safety, quickly."

"Both of them?" This did cause Sandra some alarm. She was used to the practice drills that the Secret Service ran in DC or at their home in Minnesota, but not when they included Liam who was based in Boston at college. They'd only do that if it wasn't a drill. She sighed, disappointed that her husband's job was again going to affect their children but she didn't want harm to come to any of them. "Do what you have to do, Tim. I trust that you wouldn't be doing this unless it was an emergency."

"Thank you, Ma'am. I always prefer to work with your blessing but…"

"Your job is to protect us, not to follow my orders, I know."

Tim stood and moved towards his team. He had three agents with the First Lady and another two with Connor. For the moment they all had eyes on both people and he was happy to wait for the team with Liam in Boston to report they had him safely.

"Agent Green..." The voice on his earwig got Tim's attention.

"Go ahead," he responded.

"You have a go. We have Ireland secured."

"Is there room for a slight delay? Redskin is playing a blinder tonight." Tim asked the question he knew the First Lady would want him to ask.

"Millar here. How long until the end?"

"7 minutes," Tim replied to his boss' question.

"Eagle is still working the room here." Millar responded, "We have a bit of a window but be prepared to move on my command if needed. "

Tim breathed a sigh, if he was given this leeway, perhaps the situation wasn't as dire as it could be. "Confirmed. The First Lady has been informed."

"Johnston..." Tim could still hear Millar speaking to the other agent. "Keep Ireland secured. You stick to him like glue."

"Yes, Sir."

In three different locations, watches were set to 7 minutes as they waited for Connor's game to finish. The young man himself scored twice more and, as the siren went off, finishing the game, was carried off the field by his teammates.

"Go, Go, Go!" Tim said into his mike.

Connor was only on the ground a matter of seconds when his agents surrounded him and moved him through the crowds while Sandra was bundled down the bleacher steps and both met in one of the waiting cars.

"Get to Andrews. Emergency," Tim said to the driver as he got his precious cargo onboard.

The small motorcade squealed out of the school parking area and made for the Air Force base, around 15 minutes away.

"Mom, what's going on?" Connor asked quietly. He, too, was used to the drills but they rarely happened without one of his agents tipping him off beforehand, so he was a little worried.

Sandra hugged her son to her, something the teenager wouldn't always be in favour of. "I don't know, sweetie, but don't worry, Tim will protect us. That's his job."

"Is Dad meeting us there?" Connor asked loudly enough for Tim to hear.

"He'll be there, Connor. That's the whole point," Tim replied as the SUV sped across the city.

_SG1

In the reception room at the State Department, Alex Millar was watching the crowd as the President spoke to the guests. He was listening to the other teams as they moved both Sandra and Connor, and Liam to places of safety. The discussions with Perry and O'Neill had led him to decide that for the moment, the Air Force was the securest place for the First Family. Sandra and Connor would go to Andrews while Liam was being taken to a base in Massachusetts where General Hammond had direct contact with the base commander. Once he had confirmation from both sets of agents he moved towards his boss to set in motion the plan.

Your family are all secured," Alex whispered to the President who turned from the guests he was talking to.

The relief on the President's face was obvious, "Good. Let Hammond and O'Neill know. We take the White House tonight."

"Yes, Sir."

Alex made his way back to the room where Hammond and O'Neill had set up. "The family are all safe," he said once he'd closed the door.

"Good," Jack acknowledged. "We're going to the Pentagon. The Joint Chiefs are waiting for Hammond. They don't know about the rest of us yet."

"The President is expected back at the White House by midnight. We need to make our move before then."

Jack flipped the cover on his wristwatch. "Check. That gives us just over two hours. Alex, get the President to safety as soon as you deem it necessary. Did you warn any of the agents you have with the Vice President?"

"One, the guy in charge of his detail. He knows to get him out if I give the signal, but at that point the Chief of Staff is likely to know that he's been made."

Hammond turned to Alex. "Keep the President safe, son, that's your job. We'll take care of the rest. We have transport waiting for us and we'll keep you in the loop."

Alex nodded and watched as the group led by Hammond left the room. and made their way to the back stairwell. He wasn't sure all of them would make it out of this one and he hoped his old friend had the ability to pull off a miracle.

 **Thanks for hanging on with this, sorry for the delays in publishing. More will come soon.**


	19. Chapter 19: The Joint Chiefs

**AN: So we move to the Pentagon with more action. Sorry for the delay, very busy real life. Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to review the story, I appreciate your comments and support. Enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 19

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs wasn't impressed to be called to a closed meeting at this time on a Friday evening. He had plans and usually these meetings had to be called by the President, the Secretary of Defence, or by himself, but this one hadn't been. The British Ambassador, of all people, had called him to a secret meeting. There was no precedent for this, but he went because they were to be briefed by Major General Hammond and he had a lot of respect for Hammond and the work that he was doing in Colorado. In the past week, he'd been surprised about the public coverage of members of Hammond's command and he assumed that this was what the briefing was about.

The Chairman strode into the large room at the Pentagon and saw that the other six members were already present. "Gentlemen, Ladies," he acknowledged the people around the table, then faced the Chief of the Airforce. "Well, Maynard, any idea what news Hammond has for us? Is there any word about O'Neill or Carter? It's not like the Air Force to lose their officers or to have those in their most secret programme plastered all over the world's media."

General Maynard, Chief of the Airforce, smiled. "No, Sir, but knowing George, if he's come in person then it'll be important and will hopefully answer all your questions."

"Very well." The Chairman took his seat at the head of the table just as the phone in front of him buzzed. He picked up the receiver and listened for a minute before speaking. "Send them in."

"It appears Hammond has brought some friends," the Chairman said as he rose from the table and turned towards the door.

Hammond entered the room, flanked by O'Neill and Colonel Perry, then followed by the rest of SG-1 and several Air Force personnel and Marjorie.

"This is quite the delegation, General," the Chairman stated as Hammond saluted his boss.

"Yes, Sir. Colonel O'Neill you already know and this is Colonel Perry from Andrews." Both men saluted the Chairman.

The Chairman quickly returned their salutes. "Colonel O'Neill, it's good to see that you survived the blast in Scotland," he greeted Jack, then looked at the other personnel, "And the rest of SG-1, too, of course. I'm happy to see you all. It's been quite an eventful week."

Hammond continued, introducing Marjorie. "General Gibson, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, this is the British Ambassador to the United States, Marjorie Smythe. The reason we're here is because she has the President's Seal and we come with his complete authority."

As Marjorie held the coin in front of her, the rest of the Chiefs stood to recognise the authority in front of them as if the President were indeed in their midst.

The Chairman shook Marjorie's offered hand and guided her to the table. "If we could all take a seat, General, you and the Ambassador can get us up to speed."

Hammond, Marjorie, Jack and Perry sat down at the table, while the rest of the party stood to the side.

"Let's hear it, George," the Chairman began.

"Sir, there's not enough time to discuss the full events of this past week as time is of the essence, but the crux of the matter is that we've discovered that the Goa'uld have infiltrated the President's inner circle. One has, in fact, taken control of his Chief of Staff. The President has beenworking under duress and we're here to plan and launch an attack to take back the White House before 2400 hours."

To say the Joint Chiefs were stunned would be an understatement. Several sat with their mouths wide open after hearing the information Hammond had just imparted to them, trying to take it all in.

General Maynard recovered quickest, having been the only one to have actually had personal contact with the SGC. He took the news in his stride. "George, that's a big ask in 90 minutes."

"We know, Sir, but we already have the President secure, as well as his family, and one word will get the Vice President to safety. What we don't know is how the Goa'uld will react when this goes down."

"Seals are probably your best bet," the General in charge of the Marine Corps suggested.

"Or the Rangers," the Army Chief added.

The Chairman waved their comments down. "This isn't necessarily about best for the job but who we have in locations close enough to be involved."

"I agree, Sir," Hammond said. "We have SG-1 as a four-man team and Colonel Perry has his trained protection squad from Andrews. We also have access to all the Secret Service agents around the centre of DC. I think one more elite infiltration team would be enough."

"Right," the Chairman agreed. "So, I suggest a team of marines out of the Navy Yard and a backup team from Fort MacNair. Gentlemen," he nodded to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Chief of the Army, "See to it. You have 20 minutes to get them to the Pentagon and geared up."

The two men left and the Chairman turned to Hammond. "What else do you need, General?"

Hammond turned to Jack and invited him to speak. This was his plan, after all.

Jack, unusually serious with none of his usual irreverence, which underscored the seriousness of the situation more than anything else, didn't hesitate. "Sir, we're in contact with the President's agents and Security at the gate of the White House but, in order to minimise casualties, we require the Prometheus to be in orbit, to be used to either secure the Goa'uld or, if necessary, the civilians. However, to make that happen we need General..."

"General Maynard, get Prometheus in the air." Maynard left immediately and the Chairman then addressed the table. "How long do pre-mission checks take?"

"Too long," Carter spoke up from the back, then immediately realised she'd spoken without permission, not the correct thing to do in this setting with all the Joint Chiefs. "Sorry, Sir."

"No, Major, in this situation you're our expert. What's your opinion?"

"Sir, in emergency conditions, Prometheus could be ready to launch in about two hours."

"Is there no way to speed that up?"

Carter thought for a few seconds before replying hesitatingly, "Well, if we assume that the hyperdrive wouldn't be used, then they _could_ skip that part of the start-up procedure..." She looked wary at the idea, then added, "However, the commander would be very uneasy doing that, Sir. It hasn't been done before."

"Noted, but please tell General Maynard that he has orders to do just that."

Carter quickly left to catch up with General Maynard, just as the General of the Army returned.

The Chairman immediately nodded to the General, who quickly gave them an update. "MacNair has a team en route. We were lucky they were about to go on a night exercise and have been diverted. ETA is 10 minutes."

"Excellent." Chairman Gibson turned back to the table. "Well, O'Neill, I expect you'll be after some weapons to ensure the success of this mission."

"Ah, well, Sir, you see..."

"You've already commandeered them, haven't you?"

"Yes, Sir. It's amazing what can be done with that old coin that the ambassador has." Now that their plan was underway Jack's irreverence was back.

The Chairman laughed briefly. "Yes, it is. I don't think even I've seen it without the President before. He must've been in real duress to give it up. May I?" He held his hand out to Marjorie, who a little reluctantly handed it over.

Out of the corner of his eye Jack could see movement and was shocked to see the Chief of Naval Operations launch himself across the table towards the coin. The next few seconds seemed to be a blur.

Just then Carter appeared at the door. "Colonel! He's a Goa'uld!"

The Navy Chief grabbed the Chairman around the neck with his arm with super-human strength and his eyes glowed. "We are impressed, Colonel. Not only are you alive but you seem to have discovered our plot. Now, however, none of you will leave this meeting alive."

"O'Neill!" Teal'c's voice boomed in the room. "Take cover!"

Jack dived for the floor, pulling Hammond and Marjorie with him, while blasts from Teal'c's zat shot across the room.

After the Goa'uld had ducked several blasts, Teal'c finally made contact with the Chief of the Navy. As the blast hit him, both the Goa'uld and Chairman fell to the floor, unconscious. Teal'c quickly moved across the room and was about to deliver the final zat blast when Jack stopped him. "Teal'c, stand down. We need him alive."

Teal'c remained in position to guard the Goa'uld and wait for him to regain consciousness. The Chairman was pulled to the other side of the table to recover.

"Well, that was unexpected," Jack stated. "Ambassador Smythe, as the President's representative, you need to put everyone in this room who didn't come here with us under guard."

"Agreed." Marjorie nodded, a look of fear in her eyes. "Colonel Perry, have your men follow that order."

Perry's squad immediately moved. The other members of the Joint Chiefs willingly sat down, stunned at the development that one of their own could have been the enemy.

"Carter, get over here. Check each of these people with your spidey senses. Make sure they're all clear, then check that the Goa'uld in the Navy Chief didn't jump into anyone else. Teal'c, help her."

Sam walked into the room and Jack replaced Teal'c, watching over the Goa'uld so that Teal'c could help her. Very quickly Sam got close enough to the rest of the Joint Chiefs and eliminated them one by one as hosts. She then moved towards the Navy Chief. Just as she got close, bending down to check, he awoke and opened his mouth and the Goa'uld shot out towards her.

"Carter!" Jack shouted, reacting quickly and knocking her out of the way. "What the hell were you thinking! And how the hell did you not sense the snake before this?" Jack suddenly realised that he was almost lying on top of his 2IC, in a position that he should not be in, especially in front of the JCS. He jumped to his feet, pulling Sam up with him.

"I'm sorry, Sir!" Sam snapped at her CO, then calmed immediately. "I must've been too far away."

Just as Jack was about to say something, he caught sight of the snake heading for the door out of the corner of his eye.

"Daniel, get the door! Don't let it escape!" Jack ordered. Daniel rushed across the room and slammed the door, just as the snake was heading for it.

"Daniel Jackson, I apologise," Teal'c boomed, then shot Daniel and the Goa'uld with the zat.

"Teal'c, move Daniel then take care of that snake," Jack ordered

Teal'c moved Daniel away from the Goa'uld and was about to eliminate it when Sam stopped him.

"Wait, Colonel!" Sam shouted. "Don't we want to keep it to interrogate it?"

"You volunteering to be a host, Major?" Jack spat back. "Thought not. He's of no use to us without a host and none of us are gonna do it. Get rid of it, Teal'c."

Before anyone could do anything else, Teal'c zatted the snake twice and it disappeared

Suddenly, there was a loud banging at the door and Jack cautiously went to see who was there.

"Sir, Sir, is everything okay?" General Maynard could be heard on the other side of the door.

"Carter, over here, now." Sam moved to stand beside her CO. "Carter, I'm going to open this door. If you get one, single spidey feeling, you just say the word and I'll blast anyone you want me to."

Sam nodded and braced herself while Jack opened the door. Sam stared at the head of Air Force and the Commandant of the Marine Corps, who was also there, then shook her head.

Jack opened the door further. "Sorry, Sirs. We've had a little snake problem here."

"The Goa'uld?! Here?!" Maynard exploded.

"Yes, Sir, in the Chief of the Navy. It left the General when Teal'c zatted it but don't worry, we've just eliminated it."

The Marine Commandant's sarcasm came to the fore. "Never a dull moment with you, Colonel, is there?"

Deeming it better not to reply, Jack simply stood aside so the two men could enter the room.

"Is the Chairman okay?" Maynard asked, moving around the table as he'd only been able to see his boss' feet from the other side of the table.

"Yes, Sir", Jack replied. "He'll wake up soon but we don't have time to wait. We need to get this plan up and running."

"Okay." Maynard looked at the other Generals and then continued, looking at Sam. "Prometheus is getting ready per your plan, Major. They should be in orbit in time for our assault on the White House. The Marine team from the Navy Yard has arrived and both they and the Army team are ready to be briefed. We have transport organised. Now we just need you to confirm that the President is safe and that the Secret Service are ready."

"Yes, Sir. We're ready to go, on your order."

"Colonel, as I understand it, the President has already authorised this plan, so I'm merely following his orders. You have all the power of his office and, as such, all the resources of this group and the armed forces. I expect you to make our country safe again and get the Goa'uld out of the White House. You can use all necessary force to complete this order but you are to keep casualties to a minimum."

"We'll do our best," Jack stated, then turned to the members of his teams. "SG1, Andrew's team, let's move out." They all moved past him and Jack turned to Marjorie "With your permission, Ambassador, I'll take that coin to ensure we get full cooperation wherever we go and leave you and General Hammond to coordinate the teams from here."

"With pleasure, Colonel." Marjorie relinquished her hold on the President's Seal. "And for the sake of us all, I wish you success in this endeavour."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Colonel," Hammond said, "God speed."

 **AN: More soon, thanks for reading.**


	20. Chapter 20: The White House

Chapter 20

 _So here we have the attempt to rescue the Chief of Staff, for reference the office is the one from the West Wing, the office is square and has a window at the back and a door on each of the three walls. Hopefully that will allow you to picture this as I have done when writing it. Enjoy._

Jack slowly made his way up the east side of the White House, followed by the rest of SG-1. Perry and his squad were taking the west entrance, while the marine and army teams were waiting further down Pennsylvania Avenue for the signal to move. The secret service had been moving people out of the building, slowly and discreetly, while ensuring that the Chief of Staff was still inside. The previous day, Agent Millar had spliced together CCTV footage that, if checked by the enemy, would show a normal night, with the normal skeleton crew of staff in both the West Wing and the Mansion of the White House. Everyone was now awaiting Jack's signal to make their final move, one that was sure to alert the Chief of Staff that something was wrong.

They'd been lucky with the Chief of the Navy. His Goa'uld had been so arrogant, sure that their plan couldn't be discovered, that it appeared he hadn't contacted the White House to alert the Chief of Staff about the Joint Chief's meeting. Techs with more knowledge about IT than Jack believed was healthy, had checked all of his communications and the man's personal guard had checked his office for any alien communicators. No, as far as they could tell, the Chief of Staff was unaware that he'd been discovered.

"Alex," Jack said quietly into his wrist mic, "We're in position. Have your team extract the VP in 2 minutes. Repeat, 2 minutes".

"Affirmative. Eagle is on his way to Andrews under strict guard. Sending the signal to Wolf's agents now."

Jack looked at his digital watch, counting down the two minutes. He spoke the final 10 seconds into his mic for all teams to hear.

"...3...2...1"

The alarm blared in the White House and, even from outside, the teams could hear shouting and jostling as the VP was bundled from his office and through to the waiting transport. Then, just as Jack caught sight of his motorcade screeching away from the front of the building, all the lights were cut and Jack said, "Now!"

The marine and army vehicles swarmed in through the opposite gates to the leaving VP. Jack and SG-1, with their night goggles on, barged through the main entrance to the West Wing. Jack could hear Perry's team doing the same at the entrance to the Mansion. Teal'c threw a smoke grenade into the bullpen, which had been emptied of most of the staff, but it was best to be safe. No one knew what could have happened in the last minute and where the Goa'uld could be lurking.

They made their way quickly through the corridors of the building to the office of the Chief of Staff, Carter checking anyone they came across. No one had a Goa'uld, thankfully, and they were quickly pointed to the exit. The plan had been to try and corner the man in his office, but that would only be possible if he were exactly where they needed him to be at exactly the time they needed. This was what the whole plan hinged on.

"SG-1," Hammond's voice came through their earwigs. "Be advised, Prometheus has picked up a cargo ship coming in fast on your position."

"Great!" Jack remarked. "I hope your plan works, Carter."

"It will, Sir. The device on Prometheus will block all attempts to beam out someone from the building."

"Jack," Perry's voice was now heard. "The mansion is clear. No one here. We must've gotten everyone out earlier. We're now taking the outside pathway to the Oval Office."

"Good. Meet you there," Jack replied. At least this part of the plan was proceeding nicely. The Andrew's team would follow the colonnaded walkway that was the President's private link from his office to his residence, thus preventing any escape of the Goa'uld that way.

"Colonel," Alex Millar said loudly, "My guys inside say that they've prevented the Chief of Staff from leaving. He's wielding a weapon and they want authorisation to return fire if necessary."

"Negative. Tell them to wait. The Chief of Staff himself isn't the enemy, only the snake inside. I'd prefer to return the President's best friend to him in one piece. Tell them we're almost there."

"Roger that."

SG-1 went around the final corner to see one man, tall, greying, standing inside the Chief of Staff's office, pointing a clearly alien weapon through the open doorway at the two secret service agents who were standing in the corridor, trying to stop him from leaving his office.

"Perry, enter the Oval Office." Jack gave the command and could immediately hear a door opening and footsteps in the room that adjoined the office he was facing.

"No!" Perry's shout to one of his squad was heard by all. "The door we need is over here."

"You know, for future reference," Jack said to no one in particular, but realising Perry's problem had been the multiple doors in the Oval Office, "Designing a building for the Commander in Chief that has so many entrances into one room isn't very secure."

"Duly noted, Colonel," Hammond's voice could be heard in Jack's earwig, his tone suggesting that Jack get his mind back on the crisis at hand.

"Don't move!" The greying man spoke. "Or you will all die!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Jack irreverently shouted. "Don't you see you're surrounded? There's no way out!"

The man's eyes glowed. "O'Neill! You were supposed to have been dealt with!"

"Well, what can I say? Like I told the President, the rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

"If my death also brings yours and the rest of SG-1, then so be it." The man pointed his weapon straight at Jack but Teal'c zatted him before he had a chance to shoot. However, the man didn't fall as he should have when hit by a blast. It looked like he'd simply received a small electric shock, although it was enough to make him drop his weapon.

The Chief of Staff's eyes glowed and he gave a menacing laugh while he moved his other hand from behind his back, which was beginning to glow. "You did not think I was here without the protection of a personal shield? Not with all these lethal weapons around." He quickly stretched out his hand, sporting a hand device, and the jewel glowed brighter.

"Take cover!" Jack shouted seconds before the Goa'uld blasted all the people in the corridor. The secret service agents, who had been closest to the Goa'uld, were thrown back off their feet, almost colliding with SG-1 as they flew past them down the corridor. SG-1, who had known what was coming and had dived out of the path of the blast, and luckily also out of the path of the secret service agents, were able to quickly recover. While Perry's team entered the room from the Oval Office to the left of the Chief of Staff's office, the Marine team entered from the Chief of Staff's secretary's office to the right.

The Goa'uld, hearing the teams entering behind him, quickly backed back into the room and positioned himself where he could see all three teams. He started waving his hand in the direction of all three teams, going back and forth between them, and only Jack's quick order of "Get Back!" stopped the other two teams from being hurtled back into their respective rooms as they quickly retreated before the Goa'uld could let off a blast.

"We need him contained!" Jack shouted, moving out of the Goa'uld's line of sight. "Door containment now! Daniel, ours. Perry, you able? Captain Marks?" Jack ordered the next phase of their plan, hoping that all three doors that led into the Chief of Staff's office containing the Goa'uld would be closed.

"Yes!"

"Sir!"

"Got it, Jack!"

The doors slammed and they could only hope that the hand device would struggle with 19th Century mahogany doors.

Jack couldn't spare more than a glance down the corridor at the secret service agents before quickly reporting in. "Alex, you have men down. General, we're going to need to be quick. He has a shield and a hand device. We need to get him aboard the Prometheus now."

"Sir!" Carter called out to him, "If we disable our jamming device, the cargo ship could pick him up easily."

"I know, Carter, but if we leave him in there with a hand device it won't be long before he's blasting his way out here again."

"O'Neill." Teal'c came up beside Jack. "Do you believe this Goa'uld has the knowledge we now possess about the hand device and the shield?"

"You mean about no bullets but knifes get through?" Jack asked, remembering an early mission where they'd disabled another Goa'uld in that manner.

"Surely they would've already made changes to the technology?" Sam stated.

Daniel jumped in. "Not necessarily. To make changes, the Goa'uld would've had to admit that we'd found a flaw in his technology. You know how proud they all are. Is he likely to have spread news of his defeat around the galaxy?"

"What do you think, T?" Jack brought the conversation back to his trusted friend and his knowledge of their enemy.

"I think, as you would say, there is only one way to find out."

Jack nodded, conceding the point. "Well, if we're going to do this," he said whilst opening one of the pouches on his tactical vest, "Then we might as well go all out." He took a small syringe out. "Carter, what's the likelihood of this syringe with a sedative going right through the shield like a knife would, going through the guys clothes, and then emptying into his body?"

Carter looked incredulously at her CO. "I don't think you'd get good odds on it in the betting pool at the SGC, but if you, say, were to do the same thing from all angles in the room and the Goa'uld wasn't able to focus on one attack point, then that would increase those odds."

"Good plan." Jack pulled his mic to his mouth. "Perry, Marks, get your sedatives ready. You're going to play darts with them. Get your syringes ready, open your doors, then wait for my mark…"

"Wait, Jack!" Daniel jumped in. "We don't know where he is in the room. We need eyes in there or everyone opening the doors will be a target."

"Right!" Jack thought for a moment then spoke again. "Jenkins, you and your Rangers in position?"

"Yes, Colonel, outside the Oval Office windows."

"Good, make your way to your left. The next set of windows belong to the Chief of Staff. Do not engage. We need reconnaissance. Where he is in the room, what he's doing. Try not to be seen. Got it?!"

"Yes, Sir. Moving squad from position."

"Perry, Marks, you still with me?"

"Here, Jack." "Yes, Sir, awaiting orders."

"Good, have your sedatives ready. Once we get visual confirmation, we attack together then give the word to Hammond for extraction."

Jenkins whispered to Jack, "Colonel!"

"Go ahead."

"Suspect is behind the desk, close to the window. He's talking into a glowing ball, Sir."

"Crap, he must still be able to contact the cargo ship. Jenkins, if you're still out of sight, keep an eye on him. If he makes your position, get your men out of there. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir. He's getting quite wound up. Sir, I have a shot if you want me to take it?"

Jack realised that the Goa'uld was likely to have disabled his shield now that he was alone in the room. Jack looked at his team. Teal'c nodded. Neutralising the target was the objective even if it meant civilian casualties.

"Don't Rangers shoot to kill, Jack?" Daniel voiced.

Jack glared at his friend but could see the merit in his question. "Jenkins, is your aim good enough to disable and not kill?"

"Yes, Sir. I reckon a shoulder shot would do it. Then, if he's not cooperating, a bit of a flesh wound in the thigh, missing the femoral artery, of course."

"Jenkins, a simple yes would've sufficed," Jack growled. God, he sometimes hated perky recruits who just had to explain everything. "Do you still have the shot?"

"Jack!" Millar's voice suddenly joined the conversation.

"What now?" Jack replied.

"Bullet-proof glass, Jack."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Jack slammed his fist on the side of what appeared to be a very old and expensive cabinet. "And you're only telling me this now?!"

"Jack, to be fair, when you were talking about this, the team was only supposed to observe. No one mentioned firing weapons."

"How bullet proof is bullet proof?" Carter jumped into the conversation, earning her an eye roll from her CO.

"Well, Carter..." He began.

"Not completely," a voice was heard coming from along the corridor and SG-1 turned to face a secret service agent who had regained consciousness. "And not from the inside."

"Alex, you getting this?" Jack asked to see if the agents' boss had already heard or if he needed it repeated.

"Yeah, and I'm with him. The protection is more from the outside in, so that if necessary we can get the President out of a locked room." There was silence for a beat before Alex spoke again. "You'd have to time it to precision, have multiple weapons firing out the window, and Jenkins firing in. But your biggest problem would be the risk to all teams of a friendly fire incident, so to speak."

"Perry, Marks, Jenkins. Opinions?" Jack asked. This was deviating from the plan but, if they could avoid having to shut down the device on the Prometheus, then there was more chance of keeping the Goa'uld for questioning.

Jenkins spoke first. "I can move my team out of range. I can be on the ground while the windows are broken and take the shot quickly in seconds."

Perry spoke up. "One shooter, two guns from each door should give enough fire power for the windows. Empty six clips through them, obviously making sure to miss the suspect."

"And if the suspect stands in front of the window?" Marks questioned solemnly.

"We'd have a dead suspect," Jack quipped, deflated. It was a good plan but either the Goa'uld would die, or have enough time to activate his shield, thereby preventing Jenkins from shooting him.

"Jack," said Perry, "I think your first plan was best. We now know where he is. How about a distraction of some kind? Jenkins keeps us apprised of his movements and, if he moves from behind the desk, we act. If he doesn't, then we move to plan C."

"Try A, skip B, and make up C. Sounds like how we normally do this, I suppose." Jack looked at SG-1, then added, "Okay, distraction ideas."

Daniel's eyes lit up. "It doesn't have to be much, in fact, subtle is probably the way to go. You want to pique his curiosity, yes?" Jack nodded. "Then small noises, like maybe moving something into position, as if we were about to attack him. That might make him move."

Jack looked behind him at the cabinet he'd tried to attack just moments before, a glimmer of a plan forming in his mind. "Good thinking, Danny boy, and I think this piece of priceless furniture could be just what we need."

He moved to one end of it and indicated to Teal'c to go to the other. They both gently lifted and lowered it again, testing it. It was heavy but they could move it. It had drawers and doors that could open and cause more noise that might intrigue their 'friend' in the other room.

"Okay!" Jack put his wrist to his mouth to speak. "All teams give me a sit rep."

"Jenkins here. Suspect is still talking into the ball. Has got to his feet, though, and is very animated. Appears very angry."

"Perry here. Ready to go. Have the syringe and the rest of the team is out of line of sight of the door."

"Marks here. Ditto."

"Good. Teal'c, on my mark, you and I will move the cabinet. Daniel, ready with the door. Carter, you've got the best aim of us all. Take him down. Jenkins, give us continual sit rep. On Jenkins order, get the syringes into the suspect."

"Ready… Now."

Jack and Teal'c began moving the heavy furniture across the corridor. When the agents saw what they were doing, they came up beside Jack and, after a nod from him, started to open and close the cabinet doors. The noise was very reminiscent of moving a large artillery piece on a battlefield.

"Jenkins here. He's listening to the noise. He's stopped shouting at the ball. He's moving round the desk. Moving slowly. Shit, looking this way… I haven't been made. Moving to left of the desk from O'Neill's position. Will be in position in 3… 2… 1.. Now!"

The three doors flung open simultaneously and three syringes flew across the room, one into an arm, the other into his back as he turned to the first attacker, and the final one into his leg. He raised his hand to activate the hand device and then crumpled to the floor. Carter and Perry entered the room.

"Careful, Sam," Daniel warned. "The Goa'uld might make a jump for it."

To be absolutely certain, Teal'c moved in behind Sam and zatted the Chief of Staff. This time the device had the effect it should have had and the man, and his snake, lay motionless.

"General, the suspect has been neutralised," Jack reported.

Daniel ran around the desk, keen to see who the man had been talking to. He wasn't surprised to see Sarah's face. "Good evening, Osiris." He waved at her irreverently.

"You will all pay for this!" Osiris said and then the ball went dark.

"Colonel," everyone heard as Hammond responded, "Good work. Prometheus reports that the cargo ship is leaving."

"Good," Jack replied, "Can you get them to beam SG-1 and the suspect into the holding bays? We need to get the Goa'uld out of this guy and get some real in-depth intel out of him."

 **AN: Hope you enjoyed, I really enjoyed writing this and the excitement they had trying to catch the Goa'uld. More soon.**


	21. Chapter 21: Dealing with the press

Chapter 21

 _ **So I am very sorry for the delay in getting this too you. Here is the next chapter. Please enjoy.**_

Janet Frasier was just saying goodnight to Cassie and about to switch off her TV for the night, when an emergency news flash streaked across the screen.

 _Breaking News. The White House is in lockdown. Threat to National Security. There is no word on the whereabouts of the President and the First Family._

" _Good evening. It is just after midnight EST and we are reporting on a complete blackout in DC surrounding the White House. Eyewitnesses are telling us that all the streets surrounding the White House have been cleared and that a motorcade left the White House just over 15 minutes ago, shortly followed by the arrival of two sets of troops. The White House is not making a statement at this time but we know that the Joint Chiefs had an emergency meeting at the Pentagon not more than an hour ago. We also know that the President was attending a function at the State Department earlier this evening. There is no word as to whether he was back in the White House when this blackout occurred."_

"Cass, get back down here!" Janet called out to her daughter.

"What is it, Mom?" Cassie asked as she jogged into the room.

"Look at this." Janet gestured towards the TV. "We always wondered what it would be like if the SGC got some publicity. Looks like SG-1 are taking the White House."

" _We now go live to Pennslyvania Avenue where our DC correspondent has the very latest for us. Bryson, what more can you tell us?"_

" _Well, Peter, we were moved from the press room at around 11.30 pm, although most of the press corps had already left. Then we were held in a conference room just across the road. My guess is they wanted to keep the evacuation under wraps. Then at midnight the Secret Service standby cars whisked someone away. We know it wasn't the President but no one's confirmed whether it was the VP or the First Family. To be honest, Peter, the lack of information is perhaps the strangest thing. We're used to, as the White House press core, being allowed a certain privilege of information but tonight no one's coming to tell us anything."_

" _Bryson, can you see or hear anything now?" the newscaster asked._

" _There were clearly more than two teams that entered, given the number of vehicles that passed by us. However, with the blackout, it's hard to make anything out. We've heard some screams and several people were seen running from the building but they were escorted away by the secret service and we haven't been allowed to interview them."_

" _Thanks, Bryson. We're going to cut to a commercial break but we'll keep you updated as soon as we get any news."_

Just as the program switched to an advertisement, the phone in the Frasier house rang.

"Oh, I hope that's not the base," Janet said, moving to answer the call. "I'm not supposed to be on call." She picked up her phone and pressed the button. "Frasier household."

"Ma'am, it's Sergeant Walter Davis. I have a call to transfer through to you. It's from England. A Colonel McMann."

"Very good, Walter. Does the General know that the Colonel's called?"

"No, Ma'am. He's busy in D.C."

"Yes, we seem to have made the news. Perhaps you could tell General Hammond that, as well as reporting the call. Put the Colonel through, please."

Janet waited until she heard the beep of the connection changing before speaking. "Colonel McMann, this is Major Doctor Frasier from the Cheyenne complex."

"Major Frasier, General Hammond asked me to report in once I'd spoken to the two students' parents."

"Ah, yes, Colonel. Before he left, the General told me he was sending someone to speak to them."

"Yes, it was a difficult conversation."

 _Flashback_

Colonel McMann was used to carrying out orders without asking too many questions. As a recruit, you learned that your superiors always had reasons for their orders, even if you didn't understand them, or, to be honest, if they seemed rather odd. However, as he'd risen up the ranks, he'd discovered that you were now allowed to ask some questions and, when this mission was given to him, he'd felt the need to ask _many_ questions. Questions like, what on earth was he supposed to say to these parents, how was he going to convince them not to speak to the press, when were their sons going to get home. And, perhaps most importantly, why on earth the United States believed that two students were a risk to the national security of the most powerful country on Earth. He'd tried asking the Major General who'd assigned him the mission these questions but, although the man had seemed like a decent officer, he didn't give him much more than the official line of national security.

Colonel McMann now had one major obstacle to overcome: the British press. The press in the UK were notorious for getting to a story and plastering all angles of it across their front pages, even if those angles weren't fully based on fact. Stories had been in the media about the disappearance of the two students in France. They'd covered the work that the students had been doing, complete with interviews with class mates and comments from the press' contact at the University. They'd reported the name of the 'kidnapper', a Dr Daniel Jackson. The press had gotten a hold of his books and had started to make comments like 'Aliens capture students'. It had been these headlines in yesterday's papers that had prompted the call from the Cheyenne Complex and the mission he was now on.

The Colonel had quickly realised that he was going to have to go through the British authorities to get to the parents, so he'd asked his secretary to put a call through to the head of Thames Valley police, the ones in control of Oxford and the investigation. He'd invited those in charge of investigating the kidnapping to come to the base to speak to him, which they had, and two detectives had come to RAF Croughton. He wanted permission to see the parents without having to divulge that he knew where the students were, but he was finding it hard to convince them that they should give him access. However, he'd had one major ace up his sleeve, the satellite phone number that Hammond had given him that allowed him to call the students. He'd already contacted them, wherever the Air Force was holding them, and had personally verified that they were well. They'd clearly been told what they were allowed to say but they had confirmed that they were being cared for.

Now that he was convinced that the detectives would need be told if he wanted to speak with the parents, Colonel McMann aimed to be in on the call as he didn't want them to speak freely to the students, for fear that they might not say the same things to their own authorities as they'd said to him. Fortunately, once the call went through, the students seemed willing to play it the US Air Force way and had answered all the detective's questions, either with suitable answers or that they believed they couldn't say anything in order to protect national security.

So, after convincing the authorities, he was taken to meet the two sets of parents at the Thames Valley police headquarters.

"Let me introduce everyone," Detective Collins began. "Mr and Mrs Hamilton, Mr and Mrs Cook, this is Colonel McMann, based with the US Air Force at RAF Croughton, just outside Oxford. Colonel McMann, this is Mr and Mrs Hamilton, Ryan's parents, and Mr and Mrs Cook, Joe's parents. Why don't we all sit down," he said calmly to the worried parents.

Colonel McMann nodded to the clearly stressed parents in front of him and then they all sat down in the small conference room. He felt a wave of anger towards his superiors come over him. The boys had been missing for nearly a week and only because of all the negative press coverage had his bosses decided that these people deserved to know that their children were okay. Well, he was going to change that right away. "Firstly, let me assure you all that your sons are safe and well and are under the protection of the United States Airforce."

There was a collective sign and Mr Cook asked, "So they're alive?"

"Yes, Sir."

Mrs Hamilton burst into tears and was pulled into the arms of her husband. "Where are they? When are they coming home?" Mr Hamilton demanded.

Colonel McMann knew that he needed to reign in his desire to give them information because their sons weren't coming home, at least not yet. "I can answer some of your questions but please listen to what I have to say. Your sons were in serious danger and may still be. Their protection is our main priority."

All four parents now looked quite terrified at the officer in front of them. Believing your child to be in danger was one thing but it was quite another to hear that that assumption was accurate.

McMann cleared his throat. He could only tell the parents so much. "The research your sons were doing in France put your sons in danger."

Mr Hamilton jumped in. "But how can that be? The Dean called us himself and stated that they knew nothing about it."

"I can't speak as to what the University knew but it's perfectly possible that they had no knowledge of the danger your sons were in. I can't tell you what they were researching, however, I expect you know where they were based in France."

"Yes," Mrs Cook replied. "Joe told us they were in the south, at a cave system called Lascaux."

"Yes, Ma'am. Well, they discovered something and tried to report it and this put them in danger."

"Were does this Dr Jackson come in?" Mr Hamilton asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything about him, except that he protected your sons and didn't actually kidnap them, just took them to a safe place."

Mr Cook now sat up taller. "Colonel, you've made this claim twice now without any evidence. I now need concrete evidence that my son is alive."

"Mr Cook, I'm pleased to say that I'm able to do that and I've been authorised to call them and allow you to talk to them.

"Can we talk to them now, please?" a tearful Mrs Hamilton asked.

"I will, Ma'am, however there's one caveat to this. You need to keep this knowledge to yourself for now. Your sons would be in danger if they came out of hiding and, until we eliminate this danger, it has to appear that they're still missing. If the people who are after them knew that you'd been in contact with them then you'd also be at risk. Do I have your word that this won't end up on tomorrow's front pages?"

"Do we have _your_ word that you aren't using our sons as bait or risking their lives in any way?" Mr Hamilton promptly threw back at the Colonel.

"Sir, your sons are at a US air force base and are perfectly safe. Ryan was shot in the arm before we could get him to safety and his wound has been treated."

Mrs Hamilton, in shock upon hearing about her son's injury, said vehemently, "We agree to your terms, Colonel. Now get my son on the phone"

 _End Flashback_

"And so I let the students speak to their parents."

"Do you believe they'll all keep quiet until this mission is over?" Janet asked.

"Honestly, Major, I'm not sure. The press in this country can be vicious and I haven't been authorised to give out any information. It's already a struggle for the parents not to tell friends and family that their boys are okay. But I decided to allow the Hamilton's to tell Ryan's aged grandmother that he was okay, which contravened my orders, as she had a minor heart attack when news of his kidnapping hit the front pages."

"Colonel, Sir… is that..."

"Major, I'm perfectly aware of the orders I received," the Colonel interrupted testily. "However, in my considered opinion, they were insensitive, badly timed and, to be honest, had the ability to destroy the delicate relationship we have with the UK military and the government. Perhaps you're not aware of the recent headlines, but let me enlighten you of today's favourites. Let me see... _UK Students Taken by Alien Believer..._ _Dr Jackson, Disgraced Academic, Now Kidnapper..._ or my personal favourite," he added sarcastically, "Given my recent mission... _US Kidnap Brits on EU Soil_... That one I like because, as far as I can see, Major, it's close to the truth."

"I'm sorry, Sir, all I know is…"

"Save it, Major," the Colonel once again interrupted, this time angrily. "I'm perfectly aware that I don't have need-to-know clearance on this. I'm not sure why I've been told by a high-ranking General to report to a Major when I'm a Colonel but, what I do know, is that it's very different selling a cover story to the general public than it is sitting under a mountain coming up with the story. So you can report to General Hammond that the parents have been put in touch with their sons, that I take responsibility for Mrs Hamilton's mother also being told and that, unless I get authorisation to detain the families, I've done everything in my power to stop them from reporting their sons' condition to the UK press."

"I'll tell him, Colonel, thank you," Janet said stiffly, having decided that the only thing she could do in a conversation with an irate superior officer was to say as little as possible.

"Very good. I'll be in touch if I hear anything else."

Janet heard the line go dead and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What was that all about, Mom?" Cassie asked from the sofa where she'd sat down when the phone call had come in.

"Oh, sweetie, it was just the base about this mission that seems to be expanding beyond our limits. It's hard to keep it all a secret once the media gets involved."

"Well, the TV's just announced that the President and his family are safe but that there'll be no more information tonight. You can imagine how well that went down with the media," Cassie commented, totally focussed on the screen.

The phone rang again and Janet sighed. She checked who the caller was before answering. "Frasier."

"Ma'am, Sergeant Davis again. General Hammond has ordered you back to the base. The mission in D.C. is coming to an end and he needs your assistance with the next phase."

"Very good, Sergeant. I'll be right in."

"Ma'am, the General said to tell you to bring Cassie with you. He wants to ensure she remains safe while the mission wraps up."

"I was already planning to do that but it's good to have authorisation from the top. Do me a favour, would you, Sergeant? Let the checkpoints know we're on our way."

"Will do, Ma'am."

Janet hung up the phone. "Right, Cass, grab your overnight bag. We're off to the base. Looks like the General has a job for me."

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you are all well, if you want to leave a comment it would be nice to hear what you think Again apologies for the delay, real life is very much getting in the way.**


	22. Chapter 22: Back to the SGC

Chapter 22

 _I'm so very sorry for the delay. Here is another chapter. Not quite winding down yet. Hope you enjoy._

General Hammond had decided that debriefing the Goa'uld should be done at the SGC. However, getting the President, the Joint Chiefs and the Secret Service to agree with him was turning out to be quite a problem.

"Sir, we can't conduct this briefing at the Pentagon. It simply isn't feasible," Hammond stated via video link to the President at Andrews.

"Well, you can bring him here. If the security is enough for me then it's surely good enough for a Goa'uld."

"Sir, the jamming device that Major Carter has rigged up could do serious damage to other installations and their computer systems. That applies the same at Andrews as it does here."

"But the SGC is immune?!" The President's tone told of his disbelief.

"Uh, Sir, if I may?" Carter politely butted in through another video link on the Prometheus.

"Major Carter, you have something to share?" the President addressed her on the screen.

"Yes, Sir. You see, the device is shielded here on the Prometheus and can be beamed with us directly into a secure section of the SGC where it can be used without affecting the rest of the base."

The President could be seen thinking on the screen and Hammond thought he'd won this particular battle until, suddenly, the President said, "Very well, but if he goes, I go too." Without waiting for Hammond's response, he turned to Millar. "Agent Millar, we're going to Colorado on the Prometheus. See that my family have continued protection here at Andrews and then assign a team to us. Not too many, though. We're going to the most secure base in the country and won't be leaving it so won't be needing any extra security."

"Sir," Chairman Gibson said from beside Hammond, "I don't think this is a wise course of action."

"I accept full responsibility but, as I see it, either my best friend is about to be rescued or I'm about to lose him forever. Either way, I'm going with him."

"Mr President," Hammond said, "We can, of course, keep you safe in Colorado but this is likely to be a prolonged operation and I imagine you can't be in Colorado for that long."

"Understood, George, but I'd be right in suggesting that I can be 'beamed' back here to Andrew's at a moment's notice, wouldn't I? The White House is all over the TV reports, so no one will expect me to be seen in public until at least late tomorrow. The Secret Service and I can make a statement to that effect before I leave. I shouldn't be missed for at least a couple of days."

Hammond looked at the Chairman and they both shrugged. The President had a point. "Very good, Sir. We'll arrange for you and your team's transportation with me to the SGC."

Hammond sighed, it was one thing to subject his people to a security operation involving the enemy, totally different for the Commander in Chief to visit. "Sirs, Ma'am," he addressed his superiors in the room, "If you'll excuse me, I need to get in touch with the mountain and make them aware of our other guests."

Chairman Gibson shook Hammond's hand. "That was good work, George. Unfortunately, the rest of the nation will never know the part you and your team played but, rest assured, we're all grateful for the work you've all done this week."

"Thank you, Sir, but we're not quite done yet. I think we'll all be happier when the enemy is finally dealt with."

"Then good luck, General, and keep us informed." The Chairman finished by saluting Hammond.

Hammond returned the salute before replying, "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir". He turned and quickly left the room.

Shortly thereafter, Hammond was beamed onto the bridge of the Prometheus and was met by SG-1. "Report, Colonel."

"Welcome aboard, Sir. The mission was a success. There were several minor injuries amongst the other two teams and the secret service agents, who've all have been left at the White House to be taken to hospital if needed. The Goa'uld is still unconscious in the holding cell and Prometheus tracked the cargo ship right out of our galaxy."

"Very good, Colonel. I think it would be best to plan our transfer to the mountain in different waves. I don't want the goa'uld still here when the President beams up, and I want him secured in the SGC before the President goes down."

"Agreed, General. Have you alerted the SGC to the President's arrival?"

"Yes. I advised Walter before coming up here. I think the poor man nearly fell off his seat, but he recovered quickly and is now organising accommodation for the President and his team."

"General," Carter said, "We're ready to beam the prisoner and an accompanying team down to the SGC on your command."

"Very good, Major." Hammond turned to his 2IC. "Colonel, you and SG-1 see to that. I think we need to try and interrogate him whilst he still has a Goa'uld. You can never tell what information he'll give up. Start as soon as he wakes up. If he refuses to cooperate, have Dr Frasier begin the extraction procedure with help from the Tok'ra."

"Yes, Sir," Jack replied, and then turned and led his team from the bridge.

"Jack," Daniel began, "Do you think the Goa'uld will tell us anything?"

"I don't know, Daniel, but like the General says, it's worth a try."

Teal'c looked thoughtfully at his team mates. "I believe it would be possible to encourage him to talk by appealing to his arrogance."

Jack stopped and turned to his friend. "You mean, wind him up a bit and see what happens?"

"Indeed."

Jack smirked. "Could be fun." He shrugged his shoulders and walked away, his teammates smiling as they followed.

With very little fuss, given that the prisoner was still unconscious, SG-1 were beamed into a secure cell at the SGC and Carter ensured that the beaming technology was rigged up to prevent any rescue.

"Right," Jack began, once he and Teal'c had secured the prisoner to the bed at the side of the room, "He's not going anywhere. Let's go see the Doc and find out what this procedure's all about." He turned to the two SFs who'd been posted outside the room. "Page us if he wakes up. And this is the important bit..." Jack looked both men in the eyes as he continued in a serious tone. "No one, not even the President, gets past you. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir… uh... what if he orders…"

"You page me and let me take the flack, alright?"

The SFs visibly relaxed and replied as one, "Yes, Sir."

SG-1 walked into the infirmary and were suddenly barrelled into by a small whirlwind. The four team members were each hugged in turn by Cassie while Janet looked on with a relieved smile.

"Welcome back," Janet said sincerely.

"Hi, Doc." Jack gave his usual irreverent response. "What's up?" He finished with a wry smile that caused both Janet and Cassie to smile back at him.

"Well," Janet replied, "I've taken the liberty of contacting the Tok'ra about their extraction techniques. They're sending an operative in a little while." She turned to Sam. "I think it could be your father, Sam."

"Dad!" Sam said with a huge grin. "Great! I haven't seen him in ages. Remind me to thank the Goa'uld downstairs for giving me an extra visit with him."

"Shall do," Janet said with a smile, then turned back to the Colonel. "I've also had contact with a Colonel McMann based in Oxford in the UK. He's met with the student's parents and put them all in touch with each other."

"Was that wise, Janet?" Daniel asked, happy that the parents knew their sons' conditions but unsure about talking to the parents with the mission not yet wrapped up.

"Honestly, Daniel, I don't believe so. The order came from the General for them to be told but the Colonel took it upon himself to allow the parents to contact McMurdo base."

"Hammond's not gonna like that," Jack murmured.

Sam nodded. "Especially if it ends up across all the TV networks by dawn. We could have some serious questions to answer."

"Yes," Daniel agreed. "But at least it'd stop people from calling me a kidnapper and murderer."

Several sets of footsteps could be heard coming down the corridor towards the infirmary and Cassie popped her head out the door. "It's Uncle George and... oh wow... the President's here, too!"

Janet quickly pulled Cassie back, and Jack stepped into the corridor to wait for General Hammond, the President, Agent Millar, and three other agents who were walking towards them. As they grew closer, all the adults stood to attention to wait for their Commander in Chief, even Teal'c and Daniel. Cassie, on the other hand, had decided that it was more exciting to meet the President's rather hot agents than the President himself, and was quickly pulling her fingers through her hair, silently cursing her family for taking up her whole day so she'd had no time for makeup. As soon as the group reached them, Jack, Sam and Janet saluted, while Teal'c simply bowed his head, Daniel smiled, and Cassie blushed. Think the next bit is the green below Ok

"SG-1," Hammond said, saluting his team. "Let me say, in person, well done for accomplishing this mission."

"Thank you, Sir," Jack replied _ **.**_

"Colonel," the President acknowledged Jack, "What's the current condition of my Chief of Staff?"

"Sir, we were just discussing that. He's still unconscious in the observation room. The Tok'ra have been contacted and we hope to have an operative here soon to take us through the extraction process."

"Very good." The President turned to Hammond. "Now, I'd like to be completely debriefed on what's happened in the last week. Perhaps a better location could be found."

"Yes, Sir," Hammond responded. "We'll go to the briefing room. That way we can be on hand when the Tok'ra arrive."

Hammond led the small group away from the infirmary and through the SGC to the 28th floor. His mind was troubled, however, by a conversation he'd had with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs before he'd left the Pentagon.

" _George, I've been mulling over what's gone on."_

" _Yes, Sir?"_

" _This is uncomfortable, George, but at some point the President's going to have to answer for his actions."_

" _Sir?"_

" _Well, we've spent the last few hours attempting to rescue our commander and that was the correct course of action. However, it would appear that he knowingly allowed the enemy to continue to infiltrate the White House and, it would appear, deliberately sent two members of his armed forces to a trap that was designed to kill them."_

" _But he was under duress, Sir, his family threatened."_

" _George, I beg you, please do not use that sentence in any other company. It is for exactly that reason that I see a problem. He put the lives and safety of his family above that of the country he'd sworn to serve. He put us all in jeopardy to keep three people safe. He should have immediately reported the infiltration, allowed his agents to deal with it, and kept the country safe."_

 _George looked gravely at him. "I see where you're coming from, Sir."_

" _At the very least he should've taken himself out of the equation. Resigned, if necessary."_

 _Sir, are you asking me to question the President?"_

 _The Chairman sighed. "Yes, in fact I'll make it easier. General Hammond, you are hereby ordered to question the President regarding his role in this infiltration by the enemy and, in consultation with the Joint Chiefs, make the decision as to whether he has failed in his duty and whether this episode should go before the Senate committee for impeachment."_

" _General, is that really necessary?" George questioned, aghast._

" _I hope not, General, but if his political enemies get hold of this and we haven't investigated, then we'll all be out of a job and, if our country's enemies realise that it was that 'easy' to get the President to do something against his will, then our country could be attacked by any terrorist in this world or any other. He should've given up his position or got word out before SG-1 were put at risk."_

General Hammond stepped from the elevator and headed to the briefing room. This conversation was going to be the hardest one of his life.


	23. Chapter 23: Debriefing the President

Chapter 23

 _Here is the next chapter. Thanks for hanging on with this, my muse kind of ran away, however I have had a little more inspiration so more will hopefully come soon._

SG-1, Hammond and the President sat around the large table in the briefing room, with Hammond clearly in control at the head of the table. It was obvious that the President wanted to be in charge and Jack, in particular, found it a little odd that Hammond wasn't letting him. It was unusual for his usually by-the-books CO to deliberately tell the President to stand down, which he'd done in no uncertain terms, albeit reluctantly. Then it hit him - Hammond didn't want to do this but something was up and he'd been told to run the briefing this way. It didn't take a genius like his 2IC to work out that the only people who could order Hammond to do this was either General Maynard or the Chairman. Once he'd worked this out, Jack sat back and relaxed a little. He liked to watch the big boys vying for power. They always did it so eloquently just to make sure that the minor players, like himself, didn't notice it too much.

"Mr President," Hammond began, "We'll recount events from our point of view, then perhaps you could add any pertinent details."

The President didn't look too happy with his authority being usurped but eventually relented and nodded. "As you wish, General."

"Sir, this business began around two weeks ago when two members of SG-1 were given orders to go to separate locations. Colonel O'Neill, on your order, to Scotland, and Major Carter, on an order from someone in the Air Force, to Australia." He paused, hoping the President might jump in and add something to explain Carter's order, but when he didn't, Hammond glared at his commander and continued.

"Both were then lucky to survive attacks. We're aware that the British IOA representative wasn't as lucky. Major Carter, can you brief the President on your theories about what was behind your meeting and the findings of the Russian scientist."

Carter sat up straighter. "Yes, Sir." She turned to the President. "We discovered that a report from a scientist had been sent to the SGC by a scientist named Marko. He had evidence that there were links between Stone Age France and Stone Age Scotland and that certain stone rings on the main island of Orkney could have links to the Ancients and to the Stargate system. He'd also studied the Great Barrier Reef and found what he believed to be an Ancient outpost."

Carter paused and looked at Hammond to see if any more was needed. He nodded for her to continue and she turned back to the President.

"Well, Sir, as far as we can tell, if there were an outpost in Australia it's no longer there. The contact I was supposed to meet had been studying it for about six months. I don't know what he discovered as I wasn't able to see what he was going to show me as he was murdered before I got there. As for the link to Orkney, the UK military had moved several artefacts from the island to the RAF base that was attacked. Ambassador Smythe has the artefacts under lock and key in Lossiemouth, but there must be some enemy person's there as someone had to set the blast…"

Sam left that hanging and Hammond turned directly to the President to see if he had anything to add. The President simply looked back at the General without saying a word, so Hammond directed his next question to Daniel. "And you, Dr Jackson, what do you know to add to this briefing?"

Daniel squirmed in his chair and futzed with his glasses. "Well, Mr President, at first I thought that our contact was unconnected to these events as they appeared to have nothing to do with the military. However, on meeting the two students, they confirmed that they'd been researching Ancient links between France and Scotland. They'd also, it turned out, been sent to find these links by the Goa'uld Osiris, who was posing in her former role as Sarah Gardiner, a renowned academic in this field. The students were at risk so we took them to McMurdo with us."

The President looked at Jack. "That sure was some backup plan, O'Neill. Can I ask why I wasn't informed of its existence?"

It was Jack's turn to squirm a little, but he then caught sight of Hammond's steely glare, which was directed at the President, not himself, and he settled. "Well, Sir, it was deemed that, in order to protect the programme, there needed to be a method of protecting SG-1 and General Hammond in case of either infiltration from out there or some other attempt to take control of the base from here on Earth. Thor specified who was allowed to know the plan existed."

There was a rather uncomfortable silence around the room until Hammond spoke up. "Sir, it's time for us to hear this story from your point of view." Although the words seemed innocuous, the tone left everyone in no doubt that it was an order."

The President looked closely at Hammond. "I think it would be best to wait to hear from the Goa'uld first."

Hammond sighed a little, then sat up straighter. "I'm sorry, Sir, but that isn't an option. I need to hear your side of events first, before we talk with the Goa'uld. Please recount your story."

"Is this official, General?"

"Yes, Sir. I was ordered to take your statement by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs."

"Very well. The situation began around 5 months ago when I noticed small changes in my Chief of Staff. I thought he was just overworked or stressed, so I tried to get to the bottom of it. It took about a week for the Goa'uld to show itself. I was given an ultimatum. Either I helped him destroy some artefacts and got rid of SG-1, or he'd destroy the country. He didn't know where the artefacts were but said that a small group of his allies were looking for them in places around the world. I was told that if word of his presence got out then my family would be eliminated."

Jack cleared his throat and looked to Hammond for permission to speak. Hammond nodded so Jack spoke up. "Sir, Agent Millar mentioned a meeting at Camp David that seemed to be run by the Chief of Staff and not yourself?"

"Yes, that was the start of his plan unfolding. Several people went to Camp David but I wasn't allowed to speak. They only let me know what was going on so that I'd understand how high the stakes were. Sarah Gardiner was there. She seemed to almost be in charge. She believed that they'd found the artefacts to be destroyed and had located them in the Great Barrier Reef and Scotland. She had two teams in place to destroy them but they wanted to destroy SG-1 along with them. She also indicated that they had a weapon capable of destroying several US cities if I didn't make this happen."

"So you set us up!" Jack couldn't contain his anger and blurted out the accusation.

"I put the country's safety above yours, yes," the President said defiantly.

"Colonel..." That, along with a stern look from Hammond, was all that Jack needed to keep quiet.

Hammond turned back to the President. "Sir, can I just clarify for the record, that had my team not put their own security measures in place, with back-up plans and changes to accommodations, etc, they would most likely have been killed and that that was what you'd expected would happen?

Faced with such a blunt recounting of events, the President had the grace to blush. "Not something I'm proud of... but yes. Obviously, I'd hoped you'd have something planned, a way to save yourselves. But I had to go along with the plan, for the greater good."

Jack was about to launch himself at the President, when Hammond waved him back into his seat then turned back to the President, his own anger barely kept in check. He took a deep breath before continuing. "What else did Ms Gardiner have planned?"

"She talked about eliminating the Russian scientist and how she planned to entice Dr Jackson into a trap with some research students. I was to let it all happen, not interfere, and then they promised to protect Earth."

"This would not have happened, Mr President," Teal'c said firmly from the other end of the table. "They would have found a way to use this new alliance with you and then begun a colonisation of Earth. You would have doomed your country."

The silence spoke volumes. Suddenly, the phone rang and the SF in the corner answered it. A few seconds later he approached the General. "Sir, Dr Frasier said to inform you that the prisoner is awake and demands to see you and the President."

"Very good." Hammond turned back to SG-1."Hopefully, the Tok'ra will be here shortly. Let's go meet our guest." He then looked at the President. "Sir, you are to never be in a room with the enemy, and neither will I. It's simply too dangerous. We'll speak to him from the observation area. Only Teal'c will be permitted close to him as the Goa'uld can't jump into him."

"Agreed." The President then stood up, ready to go and face his Chief of Staff and the Goa'uld within him.

The others also rose from their seats and Hammond turned to SG-1. "Colonel, Teal'c, please accompany us. Major Carter, please liaise with the Prometheus and check what they know about the cargo ship, then wait for the Tok'ra. Dr Jackson, I need you to work with Airman Williams to ensure that the President's statement is formally written up and kept secure. I will need to be able to send it to the Joint Chief's ASAP."

All eyes looked from the General to the President, the man who had effectively ordered them to their deaths. If they were surprised at the anger in his gaze, they didn't show it but went off to carry out their CO's orders.

 **AN: Hope to have another chapter up soon, a couple of twists still ahead. Thanks for reading, would be lovely to hear what you think.**


	24. Chapter 24 : Why did you do that?

Chapter 24

 _Oh I am so sorry about the delay, real life can really get on top of you when searching for a muse to work. Hope you enjoy this chapter._

The tension could be cut with a knife as the President, Hammond and Jack waited for the prisoner to be moved to the lab with the observation area. Teal'c had gone to help escort him from the cell on the floor below.

Sam and Daniel entered the observation area to join them.

Hammond cleared his throat. "Major, what news from Prometheus and the Tok'ra?"

"The cargo ship has disappeared and, although the Prometheus will keep monitoring in case it returns, it seems that Osiris is gone." Sam turned to her friend. "Sorry, Daniel. I know you hoped to take the opportunity to get Sarah back."

"Next time," Daniel said quietly. "We'll get her next time."

"As for the Tok'ra, as you know, Sir, we left a message but as yet we don't know when, or if, they'll be able to send anyone."

"Very good, Major. Dr Jackson, thank you for joining us. Is the statement secure?" Daniel nodded. "Good. Your knowledge about the Russian scientist and his theories could be crucial for this questioning."

The thick metal door slid open in the room below them and they watched as the prisoner walked into the room, an SF directly behind him, his weapon drawn and Teal'c following them. The prisoner was forced to sit on the chair in the middle of the room and he looked coldly up at the observation room. Mr Martin sat still, waiting for the questions to start

"Well, Mr President," Hammond turned to his boss, "What would you like to ask him?"

"I assumed, General, that you'd already decided that you'd be the one to question him."

As the two senior men faced off, it came as quite a surprise to everyone when there was a commotion in the room below. They all turned to see that Mr Martin and his chair were tipped over and the SF, looking up at them with glowing eyes, was firing directly at the President.

Jack watched the scene unfold as if it were in slow motion. The bullets were fired and they flew through the room, penetrated the glass and then, just as he expected his Commander in Chief to fall, there was a blur of blue as Carter moved in front of the President and fell at his feet.

Time then sped back up and the secret service agents, who had been positioned at the door of room, quickly surrounded the President, pushing him out of the way, as they and the two SFs in the observation area all turned to fire on the SF below.

"STOP!" Teal'c bellowed from below, then zatted the officer before he himself could be shot. Teal'c then checked the Chief of Staff. "He is alive, General Hammond." __

Meanwhile, in the observation area, Jack was desperately trying to help Sam. "Call the infirmary! Get the doc here, now!" he shouted at anyone who was listening. Daniel took up his call and ran to the phone on the wall to pass on the messages.

The President stood to the side, surrounded by his agents. "She…"

"Of course, she did!" Jack spat, trying to get the blood that was pouring out of Sam under control.

"But…"

Daniel looked at the President and then at his friend. "You're her Commander in Chief. But, unlike you, she doesn't believe in sacrificing someone for the greater good." He knelt beside Jack, taking over from him pressing his jacket he had removed on one of Sam's wounds.

"Janet's coming Jack, we just need to get her to hold on."

"You hear that, Carter? The doc's coming with her big needles. You need to hold it together or she'll use them. Open your eyes, Major."

Sam dutifully obeyed and her eyes fluttered open, straining to see Jack.

"That's good, Major, still obeying orders. Now, what did you think you were doing, jumping in front of those bullets?"

"S… sorry... S... sir," Sam mumbled, then closed her eyes again.

"No, Carter, wake up! Keep fighting!"

But this time she didn't open her eyes.

"Damnit," Jack swore.

Just then Janet and several of her staff arrived with a gurney. Janet swiftly moved over to Sam and calmly moved the men away. She could tell that they were shocked so she gave them something to do. "Colonel, tell me what happened," she ordered as she tried to assess Sam.

Jack shook himself off, rising from the floor. "Shot twice from down below. The bullets came through the glass so would've slowed down. She jumped in front of the President. Shoulder, abdomen, she fell on her right side. She was face down. I turned her over to try and stop the bleeding."

"Very good. She's bleeding heavily. Atkins, go down to the OR and get them to have her blood type ready. We'll probably need a lot." Janet turned to the rest of her staff. "Get her on the gurney," she ordered firmly. "We'll need blood, anaesthesia, and you need to call in the second shift." Janet called out the orders as she and her team quickly moved Sam onto the gurney and started running down the corridor and then into the elevator, which had been kept open, leaving the others with nothing to do but watch.

"General Hammond," Teal'c called from below, "The Goa'uld will awaken soon. We must take precautions."

Hammond looked around the room, still a little in shock, taking in the broken glass and the blood left from where Janet had moved Sam. "Yes, Teal'c." He looked over at Jack, who was already making his way to follow his team mate. "Colonel," he called out, causing Jack to stop and turn back to look at Hammond. "Take control of the Goa'uld. Take him to the other observation room. If we're lucky, we might be able to get some information from Mr Martin, or we'll need to make the new host tell us."

"But, Sir!" Jack exclaimed and pleaded with his gaze, torn between going with his team mate and his duty.

"Colonel!" Hammond spoke sternly, nodding towards the President, clearly telling Jack not to make any trouble. Jack drew himself up, nodded, and quickly left the observation room to help Teal'c with the Goa'uld in the lab below.

The President, equally in shock, called down to Teal'c. "Teal'c, how is Mr Martin?"

"He has a small wound on his head and I expect he will be unsure of where he is and what has happened but I believe he will recover."

"General," Daniel began, "Would you like me to take Mr Martin to the infirmary? He needs to be checked out and we need to see if he knows anything. I'll can check and see how Sam is."

Hammond nodded and he and the President watched as Jack, Teal'c and several SFs began to move the unconscious Goa'uld on to the bed at the side of the room. Daniel then entered and walked over to the ex-host.

"Dr Jackson," Hammond got Daniel's attention. "While you go to the infirmary, we'll report what's happened here to the Joint Chiefs and then join you once we're done." Daniel nodded and Hammond gestured for the President to leave the observation room.

"I need to talk to Mr Martin." The President held his ground.

"No, Sir, not yet. Not until he's been debriefed by someone neutral. CJC's orders."

Hammond then pointed to the door and encouraged the President to exit just as Daniel moved to the still up-turned chair. Another SF had joined him and they both righted the chair. "Mr Martin, my name is Dr Jackson. We haven't met but…"

"He thought you were dead," David Martin interrupted quietly.

Daniel briefly paused untying the bindings holding the man's wrists and ankles to the chair. "You remember what happened?"

"Not sure. It's fuzzy, a bit like a dream." Martin held his hand to his bleeding forehead. "I didn't know what was happening and I couldn't do anything to stop it." He shuddered and then took a deep breath, grimacing in pain. "But I wouldn't say no to its rapid healing right now."

Daniel grimaced at the comment, remembering all the times they'd come across that particular power. He helped the man up and passed him to the SFs who were ready to escort him to the infirmary.

 **AN: So I'm going to try not to leave you hanging on. The next chapter is written so should be with you soon. Thanks for staying on this journey with me.**


	25. Chapter 25: How is Sam?

Chapter 25

 _So, I am hoping to get this finished by the summer holidays. There are three chapters left including this one. This has not been beta'd so I hope you don't find any glaring errors, but it will not be as slick as my beta can make it. Enjoy._

"Damnit, Sam! C'mon!" Janet worked furiously on her friend, desperately trying to stem the bleeding while searching for the bullets that had entered her body. But her friend wasn't helping her.

Other staff were moving with speed but efficiency around their CMO, to either provide her with immediate assistance or to collect things that they knew she'd be needing as part of the procedure.

"Got bullet 1," Janet stated, removing it. "Tie off that bleeder," she instructed another doctor.

The machines Sam was attached to seemed to calm slightly with that piece of work completed.

"Major," a young doctor called for assistance. "The one in her abdomen is proving difficult to see."

"Let me see." Janet moved down Sam's body from her chest area to the wound in her right side. "God," she murmured, "There's a lot of blood." Then, louder, "Let's clear the area! Get some suction here!" She waited a moment while the nurse tried to clear the area.

"Ma'am, it keeps filling," the female nurse stated professionally.

"Atkins, keep the blood going! She's gonna need it," Janet ordered another member of her staff who was in charge of the transfusions.

"We're going to need more, Major," Atkins responded.

"I'll go, Ma'am," Rush, another nurse, stated and then quickly left the room.

"Lieutenant!" Janet called out to her. "If supplies are running low, set up a blood drive! Compulsory!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Rush called out as she hurried away.

"Right, let's see what we can see... The bullet's nicked her small intestine and her kidney... oh, crap... and a major blood artery." Janet took a deep breath. "Okay, one thing at a time. Clamp the intestines, stop the bleeding, then find the bullet." Janet put down the instrument she'd been using. "This time I need to feel for myself," she said as she carefully began to search Sam's abdomen for the missing bullet. "There's a great deal of damage here..." she commented as she continued to move methodically. "Keep on with the suction."

"That's the intestine resected, Ma'am."

"Good, that should help. I assume you didn't find the elusive bullet." Janet tried a small laugh. Gallows humour was what the Colonel would call it.

"No, Ma'am."

Janet pulled back from Sam and indicated to her assistant to wipe her brow. "Are we absolutely sure that the bullet didn't go right through the Major?"

There was silence in the room and Janet looked at her staff. "Right, people, let's eliminate the obvious. We need to turn her over gently and check for an exit wound in her back."

Gently, and in one coordinated, fluid movement, the staff turned Sam over.

"It's clear, Ma'am. The bullet didn't exit here."

"Then where the hell is it?!" Janet was getting frustrated. She couldn't fix up the rest of her friend until the metal that had done the damage had been removed.

"Ma'am, how did she fall?" a nurse asked.

Janet thought for a moment. "The Colonel said she covered the President and fell on her right side. Shoulder wound and abdomen. He moved her to stop the bleeding."

"But she was face down?"

"Yeeesss..." Janet said quietly.

"Ma'am, we need to check the floor in the observation room." The nurse pulled off her mask and ran to the door. "I've seen it once before, the glass would have slowed the bullet, keep looking, but it might not be there anymore."

"Okay, you heard her. For now, we assume it's still there. Check everything. All the gauze. Someone check her uniform. Check the cavity and try to stop the bleeding but assume you're looking for a bullet." Janet barked out the orders as her hands went back inside her friend.

"We have some blood left, Ma'am," Rush said as she hurried back into the room. "But I've told the General to activate the blood drive. He's even made the President's people give if they're the right type.

"Very good, Rush, but only as a last resort. They haven't been tested for anything… else."

"Yes, Ma'am, that's what I said to the General. Our people are being prepped right away."

"Good," Janet said, just as the phone in the room rang. "Get that, Atkins."

"Surgery." Atkins listened intently to whoever was on the other end of the phone. "Wow! Okay, I'll tell her." She hung the phone back up on the wall. "Major, they found it. The bullet isn't inside her."

"Thank god! Right, let's work as quickly as we can. Close up the wounds. Clean and irrigate. Let's get her sewn up to stop any infection getting in."

Janet and her team worked in silence for several minutes and, as they worked, the machines monitoring Sam's vitals began to show that she was starting to hold her own.

********SG1********

Several hours later an almighty row was brewing in the SGC briefing room.

"The Goa'uld must remain inside your soldier, it is the only way to get information!" The President raised his voice, which in turn raised the blood pressure of both the General and the Colonel in the room.

Jack couldn't take it and taking temporary leave of his senses shouted back at his boss "But when it was your friend, we were to 'with all haste' free him from the prison he was in!...Sir".

Not used to anyone speaking to him that way, the President pulled himself up in his chair and yelled back, "We need to know if the threat has been eliminated on earth."

Jacks hackles were now definitely up, "Well maybe if Carter hadn't jumped in front of you the threat would have been eliminated." He snarled.

Hammond decided to take control and stop the Colonel's career from completely imploding and waved Jack down, "Colonel." He spoke sternly.

"Sorry, Sir." Jack immediately calmed and sat back down, still glaring at the President.

Hammond took control and turned to his boss, "We need to leave the Goa'uld in the SF for now." he reluctantly agreed. Noticing Jack's incredulous look he turned to him "However," he placated "as soon as the Tok'ra get here we will have this discussion again. Colonel, you and Teal'c need to go and interrogate the Goa'uld. Maximum security to ensure that it isn't able to jump again into someone else."

"Yes Sir!" Jack got up from the table, just as Janet appeared at the door.

"Sirs."

Hammond waved her in.

Janet stood at the side of the briefing table and gave her report. "Major Carter is stabilised in ICU, she had two bullet wounds, one to the shoulder which did not hit anything vital but the second to the abdomen has caused a great deal of damage. We will have to closely monitor her for any signs of infection, the intestine is susceptible to this."

Hammond nodded, grateful to hear the news. "Very good Major, ensure that both Teal'c and Daniel have also been informed."

Janet nodded and relaxed her stance a little "Yes Sir, Daniel is in the infirmary and he called down to Teal'c. Sir can I ask whether the Tok'ra have made contact yet?"

"We called as we came up here from the observation room, they insist they are unable to send a qualified operative to complete the extraction for at least a day. However, we told them of Major Carter's injuries and that we requested her father's return"

"Good, he would want to be here. If you hear from them Sir, perhaps you could ask, if he can't come for someone else who can use the healing device on the Major, it has been proven to be helpful in the past."

"Very good Doctor, although to be honest I expect Jacob will here as soon as he receives the message."

Hammond returned his attention to Jack who was visibly calmer on hearing the word that his 2iC was in better condition.

"Colonel, interview the Goa'uld and report back. Dismissed"

"Yes Sir." Jack walked from the table unable to stop himself giving a glare to the President, something quite unlike him, but he really was infuriated at the man who had put them all in this situation and who was now happy to leave an SF in 'prison'. Janet walked along beside him eager to get back to her patients leaving the two men sitting at the briefing table.

The President, keen to assert some authority stated, "I assume Colonel O'Neill will be suitably disciplined for his actions here."

Hammond took a deep breath, "No Sir, I think there are bigger things to deal with than insubordination from the man who just saved our country from enemy infiltration."

Quite taken aback by a mere 2 star's response he slowly replied, "And what would they be?"

Hammond looked around the briefing room. There were no SGC personnel but several of the President's security team and out of respect for the Office of President he stood, "Let's go in to my office Sir." Hammond moved from the table to his office, not waiting to see if the President would follow, but sat behind his desk. He was relieved when the President joined him. Once they had both got seated Hammond sighed.

"Sir," Hammond decided to just lay it on the line. "the Chairman wanted me to ensure that your actions in this matter were fully investigated in case your political enemies discovered you had put the safety of your family ahead of national security."

The President visibly deflated in the chair opposite him so Hammond continued. "Sir, it's not that we don't understand the pressure that you were under but you must have realised that if you had taken yourself out of the equation we might have been able to solve this problem without anyone being at risk."

"It wasn't that easy General. Don't you think that I would if I could have?"

"Perhaps Sir but you were under duress, for several months, and that put our country at risk."

Hammond shuffled in his chair, unhappy that this was his duty but he was going to follow the orders. "Chairman Gibson would like a detailed list of all policy decisions that Mr Martin has been involved in while under alien influence. He would like details of any accounts that he had access to and any way in which he could have jeopardised our nation."

Hammond breathed and scrutinised his superior before continuing. "I am to get you to write a report and also get one from Mr Martin, who will hopefully have memories of his time under the control of the Goa'uld."

The President nodded, but Hammond knew the crux of the orders were still to come. He took a second to compose himself. "However, I am to make it very clear to you that while your Chief of Staff has been immediately cleared of any wrong doing, there is still the option of charges being brought against you."

Hammond could see the President was getting very angry again so he quickly continued. "The Chairman wished me to tell you that because you are our Commander-in-Chief, all effort will be made to keep the investigation under wraps but if it is deemed necessary by the Joint Chief's the evidence collected here will be presented to the Senate Defence C,ommittee and it will be up to them to see the appropriate steps are taken."

The President bristled, going red in the face. "This is ridiculous, I don't believe that is necessary"

Hammond stood, he'd finally had enough of the attitude of the man in front of him. "With all due respect Sir, what you think about the situation is no longer relevant. Your actions almost got my team killed! That would be the team on whom the defence of our nation from other world threats relies on. You risked our nation's security for the sake of your family, and to be frank Sir, made a deal with the devil. Use this paper to make a list of what I asked. I will be outside when you are finished." Hammond left the room after placing the pad in front of the President.

He stood in the briefing room taking a deep breath, he had never in his whole career spoken to a superior in the way he just had. His musings were interrupted by the sound of the gate activating. Having just dealt with a father who had put his children ahead of the country, George did not relish having to deal with another father whose child had put the country ahead of herself and was seriously injured attempting to save a President who George now believed had not lived up to the office and oath he had taken.

 **AN: Thanks for sticking with this. I appreciate it. Will hopefully finish the story during the week.**


	26. Chapter 26: A father and a story

Chapter 26

 _This has not been beta'ed, please accept my apologises for all mistakes. I needed to post quickly. Enjoy_

Jacob Carter practically ran down the ramp out of the wormhole. He didn't take much notice of the SF's in the Gateroom, his eyes immediately searching the control room, looking for his friend.

"George!" he barked on seeing Hammond come into view at the window. "What the hell is going on? Sam's been injured here, not off-world?"

Hammond reached down and held the button for the mic and then spoke "We can talk later Jacob, Sam needs you, I'll meet you at the door and we'll go to the infirmary."

Jacob nodded and made his way out the door to his left to meet Hammond and see Sam, he assumed that the main reason that he was needed was because of the healing device so as he shook Hammond's hand he asked about it. "Are you needing me to use the healing device?"

"Dr Frasier has reported that Sam is doing better but we'll discuss that option with her when we get there. She was shot twice Jacob."

"Did you have an incursion? Was it a Goa'uld?"

"Yes and No, we have had some serious issues here in the last week. Did you not get briefed, we had informed the Tok'ra a couple of days ago?"

"I was on a mission and they called me to say that Sam was seriously injured, to be honest I stopped listening at that point." The stepped into the elevator for the short trip to the infirmary.

The elevator doors opened and Jacob was struck by the chaos in front of him. Nurses were running along the corridor carrying blood bags and, in a room somewhere not that far away, there were machines beeping so rapidly that he knew something was wrong.

Daniel flew at him from the chairs to his right. "Jacob, thank goodness you are here, you need to get the healing device now! Janet's not sure what's wrong but Sam is critical."

Hammond took control. "Johnston!" He barked at the nearest SF that would have card clearance to the armoury. "Take General Carter to the armoury, allow him to remove the device he needs and escort him back here. Ensure that the elevator remains for him so you get quick return, I'll call to give my clearance to hold it."

"Yes Sir, this way General." Jacob and the SF left and Hammond moved to the phone on the wall and told the tech's about holding the elevator. He then turned back to Daniel.

"What happened? When Doctor Frasier reported in, Major Carter was stable."

We don't know. We were sitting beside her and then her body just went ridged, and she started shaking and all the machines started beeping. Janet hasn't said anything except wishing that the Tok'ra were here and well he is"

As Daniel finished explaining, Jacob and his escort returned and rushed into the room where Daniel indicated. If Daniel's visible panic was seen in his agitation then Jacob was even more shocked by the paralysing fear being shown by his daughters CO. Jack was rooted to the spot, not in the way, but staring at the woman on the bed, who Jacob would have struggled to identify as his lovely Sam. She had almost shrunk into the mattress as if death was trying to swallow her up through a hole.

"Dr Frasier, clear your team. I will try with the device" Selmac, not Jacob spoke, something that didn't go unnoticed by Daniel.

Jack almost jumped on hearing the General's voice and watched as Jacob moved over Sam and began to channel the power of the healing device. There were many days when both Jack and Daniel hated anything to do with the Goa'uld but at this precise minute they were grateful, as without the technology Sam was surely going to die. Of course, Daniel thought wryly, without them she wouldn't have been at risk.

Very slowly the machines began to slow their beeping, Sam's erratic heart beat was becoming under control. Her skin was beginning to gain some colour and there was a palpable change in the tension as those professionals who understood the machinery saw the difference Jacob was making.

Minutes went by until Jacob stopped and almost collapsed on top of Sam.

"Jake are you ok?" Jack asked coming behind the other man to guide him to the nearest bed.

"That was close Jack, any later and Sel and I wouldn't have had the energy. I've done as much as I can just now, but I'll need to rest and have another go."

Janet moved to her new patient, "Can you give me an idea of her condition now, I don't want to do a scan right away."

Jacob lay back closing his eyes and putting his arm over his forehead. "I fixed the rupture in her abdomen, I think that was where the biggest problem was. Her intestine is still full of blood but there is nothing more leaking. I couldn't do anything more at the moment."

"That's excellent Sir, I'll wait and see if I need to remove the excess fluid or whether her body will absorb it. You rest now."

"She'll need me again I think, but unless she goes critical again, we will try to get some sleep and recover. Wake me if she needs me."

"Of course Sir." Janet and Jack both turned from one Carter to the other. "I suppose it's useless to tell you to leave now?"

"Oh hell no. We're staying right here…..with your permission obviously Doc and well Sir?" Jack looked at Hammond realising for the first time that his boss was in the room.

Janet smiled, "That's what I thought Sir, same policy as before, stay out of the nurses' way or I get out the big needles."

"Thanks Janet." Jack smiled briefly and then caught the General's gaze "General?"

Hammond looked at Jack, he hated to be the one to do this but they had a job to do. "Where's Teal'c?" he asked first.

"He's with the SF, making sure the Goa'uld doesn't make any sudden movements." Jack replied despondently, realising his boss was about to force him to leave his 2iC.

"Why are you here Colonel, you were ordered to interview the Goa'uld?"

"He wasn't talking so I thought I would see Mr Martin and maybe get an insight into what was going on, I just popped in to see Carter on my way and it all went crazy."

Hammond took pity on his 2iC he looked pretty rough and Hammond suspected he hadn't really slept much in the last week and this was _his_ team. "Very good son, you stay here and keep watch, I'll see Mr Martin and then we can tackle the goa'uld together."

Gratefully Jack nodded and pulled a chair between the two Carters and watched Daniel go back to Sam's other side.

Hammond stayed a few minutes watching his team and then made his way to the room next door. It was time to put this whole sorry mess to bed, it was time to interview the Chief of Staff and see if there were grounds to impeach the President. All in a days work for a General, he scoffed internally.

The security on the Chief of Staff was tight, it should be, not only was he the President's top aide but he was the only one who could, Hammond hoped, explain exactly how this debacle had happened. Hammond had so many questions, how did he get a goauld? Who knew about it? Had he kept up a human pretence at home or, and he dreaded this answer, were they going to find bodies at his house. Were there any others? They had already found one in the Chief of Naval Operations, could there be more.

Hammond had no idea where to start his questions but thought he should begin politely knowing that the poor man on the bed before him had little choice in any of this.

"Mr Martin, my name in General Hammond, how are you feeling?"

"General, I have been better. It has been a horrendous experience."

Hammond nodded in understanding. "Sir, there are a great deal of questions and, to be honest, I am unsure where to start. I don't want to tire you but we need answers to ensure that this incursion is over."

"I understand. I have knowledge of some of what happened, particularly those events that I witnessed, I could hear and see things even if I couldn't talk. But other things I'm afraid the monster blocked me from knowing."

"That's alright Sir, we'll start at the beginning and you may find you know much more than you realise. I must ask though, do you know of any others who have been taken over like you were, this is crucial."

"One of the joint chief's came to visit me and had already been implanted."

"Yes we found that one the hard way."

"Good, the only other person I had contact with was Dr Gardiner. Did you know about her."

Hammond sighed. "Yes Sir, that was our mistake a couple of years ago. We have not been able to rectify it yet."

"Did she get away?"

"Yes, we tried to follow her ship but it couldn't be caught."

"Then I have no knowledge of anyone else, oh except the people that she hired to take out SG-1. I'm sorry about that, I tried to stop it but he was too strong."

"We know, you are not at fault. Can you tell me what you know?"

"I have very little knowledge of the day this all happened. I remembered a meeting, at Georgetown University, I think, something to do with the President giving backing to a new study. Anyway, Sarah Gardiner was there and then suddenly I wasn't in charge of me. I was speaking, making jokes even I think. I was terrified."

Hammond pulled up a chair, realising this could be a long story. He didn't want to get him off topic but felt compelled to ask "Sir, did your family face any…..issues during this time?"

"No thank God. He didn't seem interested in hurting my wife and my kids are at university. It was strange, he seemed to crave the warmth my wife and I shared, didn't use it against me at all. He had an agenda, he knew what he had to do and to ensure success, I had to remain in post and not raise any suspicion from others."

"I'm pleased Sir, we were worried that there could have been personal consequences for you. Can you tell me what happened after you were implanted?"

"Well, the goa'uld used to talk to her, to Osiris, using the globe. We had one in the office and one at home. She was in charge, he was clearly in awe of her, or fear I suppose. There was no doubt, if the plan didn't work, we were getting the blame. Anyway, she seemed to have contacts all around the world. Not goa'uld I don't think but just plain old human mercenaries. We set up the situation in Scotland, she had a team waiting and following O'Neill from the airport. One of whom was waiting a signal to detonate the device in the hangar. Obviously, something went wrong. We never heard from the team again, Osiris believed they had cut and run, but I think that the man in the hangar was detained by the ambassador. I contacted the base and they gave me some names of people they were holding and I recognised one."

"Ok, I'm going to need that name."

"Clayton, Andrew Clayton."

Hammond walked over to the phone, "Walter, get me the British ambassador in D.C and then Chairman Gibson at the Pentagon."

"Thanks Walter." Hammond put the phone down. "They'll contact me when they get the call through." He explained to Mr Martin then moved back to sit down beside him. "Can you continue your story Sir"

"There was a team in Australia, they were Russian actually, following some leads from a scientist's report. They killed him and then his research partner in Cairns. They left Australia without being caught, I never spoke to them. However, I don't believe they knew why they were to kill the two men. But I do know that they retrieved something from the Great Barrier Reef."

"Do you know what?"

"No, but it was powerful, Osiris seemed….delighted that they had managed to get it."

"Damn, so we can only assume it left with her."

"Yes, I would assume so."

"Ok, is there anything else you can tell us about the situation with SG-1?"

"There were several men hired quickly, once it was discovered that two students had contacted Dr Jackson. He was told they had been killed." Mr Martin spoke almost absentmindedly thinking back to hearing the news of Jackson and Teal'c's supposed death.

"Mercenaries again?"

"Guns for hire was how Osiris described them."

"We'll leave them for the French if they are still in country. Was it you that released the names of Dr Jackson and Major Carter to the media as criminals?"

Mr Martin hung his head, "Yes, Osiris wanted to make sure that SG-1 were taken, even if they were not killed. It's testament to your team that the group in Australia and in France were still looking for them just yesterday. You have some incredible personnel General."

"Yes, I know." Hammond mentally thanked both O'Neill and Carter whose complete paranoia had led to the 'CRAP' plan. He focussed again on Mr Martin "Well if both groups were in country for over a week there is still a chance we can trace them. I doubt Osiris cared enough to clear their paper trail."

Martin nodded and then sat forward on the bed, "Can I ask how Major Carter is, I'm sorry I didn't warn you that the goa'uld had jumped as I came into the infirmary room. Through his new host he was threatening me with the gun."

"She is still critical, she needs time to heal but we are hopeful she will pull through. You are not at fault, please remember that."

"Good, that's good." Mr Martin lay back on the bed and closed his eyes.

Hammond took pity on the man who effectively had been kidnapped for the last two or so months. "Thank you for answering these questions, Sir, I may have more but I think you need to rest

Martin nodded and turned on the bed and Hammond left, it was time to pick up the President's statement, the Joint Chiefs would be wanting to know if they needed to take this any further.

 **AN: So, another chapter for you, but not the end as I had hoped. Real life got seriously in the way this week, ill friends and hospital admissions. Anyway, I am away for a bit now and won't have access to the story. I promise to finish it, but that won't be till August. Hope you all have a good month of July**


	27. Chapter 27: Impeachment or not?

Chapter 27 – Impeachment or not

 _Hi there, I am so sorry for the delay. Major writer's block and lack of time is a lethal combination. So, on with the story. Just to remind you, after getting to the bottom of an incursion at the White House, Sam has been shot, Hammond has interviewed the host, Jacob is trying to save Sam, and the President is looking very guilty._

General Hammond hadn't experienced a day like this in his many years of service. He was, at this exact moment, on a joint conference call with the Joint Chiefs, after having interviewed an ex-Goa'uld and having witnessed the bravery of a Major saving the President, and was now discussing whether said President should be impeached.

"What's your recommendation, General?" Gibson, the Chairman, asked gravely.

George sighed. This was the million-dollar question. "Sir, as someone who doesn't have full knowledge of the legal role of the President, I find this a difficult question to answer."

General Gibson nodded, understanding Hammond's position, but needed an answer.

Hammond thought for a moment before carefully replying. "Sir, I've interviewed Mr Martin twice and he can't be held responsible in any way. He went to a meeting at Georgetown University, one that by his account wasn't a set up and, within minutes after his arrival, was under the control of the Goa'uld. He's taken responsibility for much of what happened to SG-1, however, I'd debate whether every order was carried out without the express permission of the President. And, Sir, that's the problem; the President was in full control of himself at all times and gave orders based on protecting himself and his family rather than doing what was best for our military personnel and the country."

Gibson nodded gravely. "Did he write a report on the information I asked for?"

"Yes, Sir. I have it here. The President informed me that Mr Martin took no extra notice of the domestic work he was involved in. The infiltration appears to have gone on for five months and, by both accounts, nothing was done that would jeopardise this country in any other way. According to both men, the Goa'uld was quite fixed on his objectives, that being getting the artefacts and eliminating SG-1. In order to stay under the radar, he seems to have used Mr Martin's knowledge to remain above suspicion."

"What was Mr Martin's opinion on the issue of the President?"

Hammond sighed. "Sir, he wasn't all that helpful. Once he realised that I was looking to apportion blame and wouldn't accept him as the scapegoat, he clammed up very quickly. My second interview with him wasn't very successful. He is, after all, the President's Chief of Staff. It's his job to protect the President and he wouldn't give me anything that would incriminate his friend and boss."

"Would he be any different in front of a senate committee, do you believe?"

"I believe so, Sir. At least he'd have to answer the questions. However, you should be aware that he's raised the question of Executive Privilege."

"Damn, I was hoping to get to the bottom of all this without anyone hitting that particular political button."

"Yes, Sir."

"Where's the President now, General?"

"He's taken over a room on the 17th floor with his detail. He was in touch around 30 minutes ago, asking about taking Mr Martin back to Washington. I managed to stall but I believe if you feel this matter needs to go further, you need to move now and launch a Senate enquiry before he leaves the SGC."

"As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, I have the authority to call a meeting with the National Security Committee and the Senate Defence Committee. At that point, we'd have to reveal the existence of the SGC to people not yet in the know. Either a small group, the NSC, or the larger Senate committee. What would be your opinion on that, General?"

"Sir, I'm in two minds. I believe my Commander in Chief was… not… fulfilling his obligations to his office when it came to the orders given to eliminate my team." George tried to not use the term 'dereliction of duty' as that wasn't his job to determine. "However, Sir, one of the main responsibilities of my position here is to maintain the secrecy of this base and its mission. I'm unsure whether revealing the base, its mission and, above all, its enemies, is the correct way to proceed."

"That's the dilemma here, George." Gibson sighed. "There are other pressing issues to deal with, as well. I'd like your input."

"Yes, Sir. What issues?"

"We've been in touch with the British Ambassador again and she's confirmed that the private contractor, Andrew Clayton, the name pointed out by Mr Martin earlier, is still in confinement in Lossiemouth. Clearly Osiris didn't want to take any chances by stopping there to either pick him up or eliminate him. Anyway, we need to have him interviewed and for someone with knowledge of the programme to check over the base and see if there really was something worth sending O'Neill to Scotland for."

"I'd volunteer SG-1, Sir, but the person best qualified for that job isn't able to travel at the moment."

"Yes, how is Major Carter?"

"General Carter managed to stop her internal bleeding but wasn't able to fully heal her. I still have him in one bed due to exhaustion and the Major in another, with SG-1 all standing guard over both of them."

"They're quite a team, aren't they? I still can't believe they escaped to Antarctica last week. Yes, Major Carter is definitely the person to look for the artefact. Which reminds me, I think Dr Jackson would be the person to examine the rings in Orkney and the caves in France."

Hammond smiled. "I've had a similar request from the doctor, Sir. I think only his friend's injuries have stopped him demanding transportation via the Prometheus. He's very excited about the possible discoveries and is, at this moment, pouring over the details of the Russian report that first pointed out the links."

"Very well. When Major Carter's stable, the rest of SG-1 should go to Scotland and interview or arrest this Clayton. Then, when the Major's fit for duty, she can join them to search for any artefacts."

"Yes, Sir. I'll pass that along." Hammond chuckled. "I suspect O'Neill will want some kind of hazard pay but the rest of the team will be keen to go."

"Well, George, we have a great deal to discuss. Thank you for your honesty. I appreciate that giving your opinion of the President goes against every oath you've taken but, in this instance, we need honesty, not a whitewash. We'll decide the best course of action and give you your orders by morning. At the moment we're disabling the Prometheus transport until 0900 mountain time to give us time to think."

"Very good, Sir. If anything else needs your attention, I'll be in touch."

Hammond ended the conference call in the briefing room and stood up. He hated this. His oath was to the President, the country, and the Air Force, and he really didn't appreciate it when these were in conflict. He sighed, then turned and made his way to the infirmary to see how the two Carters were getting on.

When he entered the infirmary, Hammond immediately noticed the five people surrounding Major Carter's bed. Jacob was on one side, the three male members of SG-1 were on the other, and Janet was standing at the foot of the bed with her back to the door. No one noticed him enter as they were all concentrating on the woman on the bed and the device in Jacob's hands. As Jacob was using the device on Sam again, George was immediately relieved as it meant his old friend was recovered enough to try again, and he hoped that it meant that Major Carter would be back on her feet quicker than he'd hoped mere moments ago.

Not wanting to disturb Jacob, Hammond walked up to the foot of the bed and quietly addressed Janet. "Report, Doctor."

Janet glanced at Hammond before turning back to look at her patient. "Sir, General Carter awoke about 10 minutes ago and, after having something to eat, decided that he felt well enough to try the device again. It was good timing, Sir. I'd just been contemplating operating again as there's still a small haemorrhage in her stomach."

"Very good."

Just then Jacob switched off the device and straightened up, looking drained. He looked at Janet, said, "We got it all this time, Dr Frasier," then visibly swayed on his feet.

"Time for you to rest again, General." Janet helped him back onto the bed. "Thank you, Sir. All her vitals are more stable. She's lucky you were able to come."

Jacob lay down and closed his eyes. "Yes, Doctor, but I'm very lucky to have her and I'd do anything to save her."

When, after a few minutes, it was clear that both patients were sleeping soundly, Hammond cleared his throat. "SG-1, I need you in the briefing room to discuss wrapping this mission up."

Hammond wouldn't brook any disobedience from the Colonel, and his stare told his 2IC that his time watching over his team was done for the moment. Hammond nodded to Janet and then left, glad when he heard the three male members of SG-1 following behind him. Without any discussion, he went back to the briefing room and sat in his usual spot, watching as Teal'c, Daniel and O'Neill took their seats.

"I've just been in conference with the Joint Chiefs," Hammond began. "There are several situations that still need our attention before we can safely say this incursion is at an end."

The others sat straighter in their seats, waiting to hear what the General wanted to discuss.

"Now, I can see from your report on the interview with the Goa'uld that he had little of any help to add?"

"No, Sir," Jack answered. "There was the usual "Death to the Tau'ri" comments and "We're better than you", but nothing that would actually help us decide if there was any further incursion."

"Sir," Daniel began, "Has Mr Martin been of any use?"

Hammond leaned back in his chair. "As you're aware, his initial interview was quite fruitful. However, once I left him alone for a while and then went back to question him again, he'd regained his political… shall we say... ability to spin a story? He's willing to take full blame for the actions of the Goa'uld but won't accept that the President be blamed for any actions taken. In fact, he believes that once the lawyers at the White House are told about the situation, they'll advise both himself and the President that they're covered under Executive Privilege and therefore won't need to speak in front of any committee."

"Damn Shrubs! And after we saved the day and all," Jack groused.

"Can they do that, Sir? If the Joint Chiefs believe he was in the wrong?"

"Under other circumstances probably not, Dr Jackson, but, given the secrecy of the programme and the exact nature of the incursion, it'll be very easy for national security to top investigating the President."

"Well, that just…"

"Colonel!" Hammond spoke sharply to stop what was clearly going to be a tirade from Jack. He gave Jack a very pointed look then, before Jack had a chance to say another word, looked at all three men. "Now, moving on to the next steps. You've been ordered to go to Scotland to interview the man that Mr Martin indicated was part of the incursion, and to check exactly what was found there."

"You mean, go to Orkney, too?" Daniel was practically salivating at the thought.

"Yes, Doctor Jackson, Lossiemouth and Orkney, but without raising too many questions. This must be kept under the radar. And you'll have to go via Antarctica to collect those students and return them to their parents. The Colonel in Oxford has already made contact with the parents and they're all aware of the need to keep quiet about this. I think the fact that the students know you saved their lives from the people who were chasing them has carried a lot of weight. The press in the UK is still trying to find a story but returning the students to their parents should turn the focus on that rather than on their kidnapping."

"Okay..." Jack said slowly, thinking, "We'll need another set of coordinates to set the stones to and, well, Carter would be useful."

"Yes, I know. We'll see what Major Carter's condition is in the morning and then make plans. Now, the other issue is Osiris and, obviously, Anubis. They clearly found some new technology in the Great Barrier Reef. Do we have any idea what it could be?"

Daniel cleared his throat. "Well, General, having read Marko's report, it could be a small energy power pack. There are obscure references to something like this in some rare Egyptian texts that Marko mentions. A transportable power device would be enough to cause Osiris' excitement and small enough to move on a ship. It's possible that it was found within an underwater facility, but Sam's sure that there's nothing left on the reef."

"So, our enemy could have more power, and in a transportable device. That isn't good news," Hammond commented.

"No, Sir," Daniel agreed, "But it's likely that they already had access to similar devices so, in the grand scheme of things, this may not make things worse."

Jack sighed. "Well, right now, unless we know where they are..." he said as he looked at Hammond with raised eyebrows, "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it."

"And we don't," Hammond admitted. "Unfortunately, the Prometheus lost their signal. At least we'll hopefully be able to trace them if their ship comes back. For now, we focus on Major Carter's recovery and get Jacob to remove the symbiote from our SF, then you'll head off to Antarctica and Scotland, either with Major Carter, or she'll join you when she's cleared for duty. And the Joint Chiefs will make their decision on what will happen in Washington. We'll have done our job and can only follow orders as we move forward. Dismissed."

 **AN: I have two more chapters written so hope to get them up soon. Thanks for continuing to read this, hope you enjoyed it.**


	28. Chap 28: Around the worldin a flash

Chapter 28

 _So, another update for you. In which SG-1 travel around the world to attempt to end the crisis._

"C'mon, Janet," Sam pleaded from the bed. "I feel fine. See!" She pressed a hand to her abdomen, where less that 24 hours before she'd been shot, and felt no pain. "Let me go on the mission with the team. Please, Janet."

Janet held firm. "You can go to McMurdo..."

"Yes!" Sam yelled and made to get out of the bed.

"But!..." Janet halted her escape, "There, Dr Michaels will examine you and confine you if you exhibit any symptoms of pain."

"Sure, of course." Sam got out of the bed and headed to the bathroom to change.

"And... I want you to programme one of those stones to bring you right back here immediately if needed."

Sam sighed. She was going to have to programme one for the base in England, and another for Scotland. They already had one programmed for McMurdo. Then the stones would have to be labelled so they didn't end up at the wrong destination. She'd already planned to use one of the remaining ones to come back here, but it wouldn't hurt to let Janet believe that she was following her orders. "No problem, Janet. Thanks." Then, before her friend could add more conditions to her release, Sam bolted for the bathroom, not forgetting to grab the blue BDUs that Daniel had helpfully brought in the morning.

Janet simply sighed. She'd known as soon as Jacob had healed Sam that she'd want to be released. There was no keeping her friend from the action, but she smiled wryly to herself; if she had, then the country wouldn't be as safe as it was today.

Sam quickly got changed and made her way out of the infirmary. She headed for her lab to start programming the stones but was caught by Daniel. "Sam, you look great! Your Dad wanted to see you. He's in my lab."

"Oh, okay. I'd wondered where he got to during the night." Sam accompanied Daniel to his lab and found her other team mates and her father looking at something on the computer screen.

"Sammie!" Jacob was first to move and went over to hug her. "We're so pleased to see you up and about."

"Thanks, Dad. And thanks to both of you for using the device." Sam hugged her father tightly. "It's good to see you, Dad."

"You, too, sweetheart."

"Yeah, Carter, glad you could finally join us!" Jack said with a grin.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

Sam and her dad broke apart and Sam's unquenchable curiosity was honing onto the screen. "What'cha looking at?" she asked as she joined her team mates in front of the screen.

"Well..." Daniel began as he walked over to join her, "We think this was part of what Osiris was after." Daniel pointed to the hieroglyphic representation on the screen. "Neither Teal'c nor Jacob have seen one in person but Selmac says they're very powerful. According to the inscription, it's something about the Power of the Gods."

"And this is what Osiris found in the Great Barrier Reef?"

"We think so. It matches with what Mr Martin told the General. Do you recognise it with Jolinar's memories?"

Sam stared at the picture and the inscription. "No, sorry, I don't think she came across it at all."

Both Daniel and Jacob visibly deflated, having hoped Sam could maybe hold the key to getting more information.

"That's a shame," Daniel murmured.

But Sam wasn't put off. "Do we think there's one in Scotland, too?"

"It's possible..." Daniel brightened and took off his glasses. Jack could sense a speech coming on and groaned under his breath. Daniel took no notice. "I'd say that if it was there, then it's still there. The explosion meant for Jack wasn't powerful enough to have included a working power device, so either it wasn't working and was destroyed, or it's functioning and still there, or… was never there and we're looking for something else."

"So, to summarise, Daniel..." Jack bounced on his feet. "We know we've lost one of these and have no idea if we can find one."

"Uh, I guess..."

"Fabulous. Okay, Campers... Jacob, we'll leave you and Selmac to do your work with the SF and get that Goa'uld out of him, while we go and clean up the rest of this mess." Jack headed for the door, with Teal'c following.

Sam hesitated beside her father. "Will you still be here when I get back?" She hadn't seen him for ages and longed to have some free time just to speak with her dad. Jack stopped and turned back, waiting for Jacob's reply.

"Sorry, kiddo. We have to take the symbiote back to the Tok'ra immediately. We can't perform the correct ritual here as we are unaware of its life story. We don't believe in simply killing it, however, we do want to remove it from your SF. Once that's done, I'll try to get back. I'd like to spend some time with you, too."

"Okay." Sam said quietly as she steadied herself. She was an officer in the United States Air Force, after all, and it wouldn't do to have an emotional reaction on base to her dad leaving.

Jack, eager to ease the tension that had suddenly developed, cleared his throat. "Let's go, kids. Places to go, kidnapees to return, power sources to search for, yada, yada, yada. Never a dull day with us around." Jacob just rolled his eyes but Jack's goal was achieved when he saw Sam try to hide a small grin.

Jacob quickly hugged Sam. "I'll try and get back as soon as I can. Okay, kiddo?"

"Yeah, okay, Dad."

Jacob nodded to the guys, smiled at Sam, then turned and left.

SG-1 went to Sam's lab and the guys waited while Sam programmed the stones using the equipment Thor had left for her. As she finished each one, she passed it to the teammate who had the appropriate label.

Jack laughed at the labels. "Not taking any chances, eh, Carter?"

Sam smiled. "No, Sir. I think we have enough to deal with, without landing in the wrong place."

"You do know that we could just travel via the Prometheus, don't you?"

"Yes, Sir, but General Hammond felt there was less chance of discovery if we travelled without the ship, especially to collect the students."

"Yes, Daniel, just how are we going to move them without any major questions?"

"Ah... well... Janet's already dealt with that. She had Dr Michaels drug their last meal. The students are sleeping comfortably and waiting to be moved to Oxford."

"Hmm... seems we've thought of everything. So, Carter, you done? Are we ready to leave?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, Colonel McMann is waiting for us in the locked room in Oxford and Ambassador Smythe has been travelling all night to Scotland to await our arrival there. We'll check that that's all gone to plan and then be off."

SG-1 made their way to the briefing room. When they got there, Jack immediately spotted Walter. "Sergeant, has the Ambassador checked in yet?"

"Yes, Sir. The General just got off the phone with her. He said to tell you that you have a go."

"Excellent." Jack turned to his team. "Let's get kitted up and meet back here in 10."

Ten minutes later, SG-1 were back, standing with all their equipment and weapons, ready to move out. They all turned to Hammond, awaiting his okay.

"SG-1, you're travelling on the orders of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs but you have no authority to use your weapons outside of US bases. You're to make all your enquiries but not cause any

international incidents." Here Hammond paused to give Jack a pointed look, continuing before Jack could interrupt him, ignoring Sam's and Daniel's covered grins. "Ambassador Smythe has ensured privacy in the area she indicated for your arrival. If anyone questions you, you've arrived on her private jet. If you're able to secure any technology that will help to protect this planet, you're to make the Ambassador aware of it and she'll contact the British Government to make a formal application to move it to Area 51. Do not simply remove any objects. We want the British to cooperate, not arrest you."

"Yes, Sir," Jack replied, knowing that much of that speech was directed at him.

"Good. You have a go. God speed."

Jack gave a sloppy salute. "Yes, Sir." He turned to his team. "Right, Carter, let's get this show on the road."

Sam removed the first stone from her pocket, checked that her team were all touching her shoulders, and pressed the button. Within an instant, SG-1 arrived at McMurdo and were met by Dr Michaels.

"Hey, Doc, long time no see!" Jack's irreverent comment made the doctor smile.

"Good to see you again, Colonel." The doctor turned to Sam. "Major, Dr Frasier made me promise to check you over before you left, so if you could come this way, I'll get you checked out ASAP. You three could help by moving the two students onto the stretchers. Then you could be on your way very quickly."

Sam sat on the bed as the doctor used an ultrasound machine to check her stomach. "Wow, whatever remedies Dr Frasier has, I need to get access to them. There's no sign of injury here at all."

Sam squirmed a little and the doctor smiled. "Don't worry, Major, I already know the answer. National Security. I'm sure if I ever get posted to the mountain, I'll be let in on all these secrets."

"We don't use them on everyone… but…"

"No explanation needed, Major. Dr Frasier has already told me that your missions have left you with a unique situation and that this treatment is deemed necessary for you at this time."

"Yeah... so, am I good to go?"

"Very much so. I suspect you're probably in better health than your team mates."

Sam pulled her top back down over her stomach and got off the bed. "Thanks, Doctor. We have other places to be." Sam walked through to where her team were waiting with the stretchers.

Jack looked at Sam, silently asking that everything was okay, and was pleased when she nodded in reply. "So, Carter, this is gonna be a bit tricky. Do we all have to touch you, or can you touch both stretchers and we just need to touch them, as well?"

Sam thought for a moment. "I think it'd be best if you were all touching me, Sir. We don't want to leave anyone behind."

Jack grimaced. No, they didn't. "Okay, Michaels. Call the UK again and check we have a go."

The doctor walked over to the phone on the wall and made the call. "You're good to go, Colonel."

"Very good. Thanks, Doc." Jack turned to his team. "Carter, you kneel down between the stretchers and hold onto one student. Daniel, Teal'c, behind her, touching her shoulder as before. I'll go in front and put my hand and the other student's hand on Carter's leg. They quickly got into position with Sam mumbling, "It's like a game of Twister."

Jack smiled at her joke. "Let's go, Major."

"Yes, Sir." Sam pressed the button and they quickly disappeared and reappeared in a dark room.

"My God!" a voice declared. "I knew I was expecting you all but I really didn't see this coming." Colonel McMann switched on the light, causing SG-1 to blink with the brightness.

"Colonel McMann, I'm Colonel O'Neill and this is Major Carter, Daniel Jackson and Murray."

"Murray? Of all the things I've been told this week, that smacks of the biggest cover up."

Jack looked between Teal'c and the officer in front of him. "Yes… well… here are your students." He pointed to the two stretchers.

"They'd better be asleep and not injured or dead, or you're dealing with the parents."

"They're asleep, a little light drug so that they can wake up here and not know where we were keeping them."

"Plausible deniability, I take it."

"Yes. The Joint Chiefs made that decision."

McMann shrugged and chuckled. "Way above our pay grade, eh?"

"Yup, way up where the air is a little thin!"

McMann chuckled again, realising that Jack had a similar opinion to him of their superiors. "Fair enough. We'll put them in our infirmary on base to wake up. The families will be called and invited in once they're awake again. I'm not sure the drug was necessary. In the couple of conversations I've sat in on, the students were very mature and understood the national security line. But as long as they're back and safe, I don't think anyone will say anything."

"Good. How do you feel the press will react to the cover story?"

"Well, so far, not well. You know about the headlines that followed their disappearance?"

SG-1 nodded.

"Well, they've not gone away. However, we have managed to keep a lid on all the information. The families haven't told anyone and have been pretty much in hiding for the last day or so. They'll appreciate having their boys back and not having to act like they're still unsure of their whereabouts. I assume you're not here to make any statement?"

Jack looked to Daniel, who quickly replied. "No, Colonel, we're actually here to do the opposite. Get in and get out of here quickly, without anyone being aware that we were even here. The cover story is that I took the students to a safe place as they were involved in a project that put them in danger, and that's it. They've been returned, they don't have any idea where they were, and they're in good health."

"Well, we'll stick to that story. I can only hope the kids do, too. I'll let you all leave before calling my staff to help move the gurneys."

Jack nodded. He knew there was a chance that the boys would talk, or that the press would dig deeper. However, to be honest, very few people would guess the truth and he hoped that that would mean that nothing would be leaked.

"Carter, you're up again," Jack said as he, Daniel and Teal'c took up their positions around Sam. "You know, one of these days, we're going to land in Oz and re-enact finding the wizard," he commented, much to the amusement of his 2IC. One job done and another to go. Hopefully, their visit to Scotland would be just as easy.

 **AN: Thanks for reading, I have one more chapter written and my beta and I will look at it as soon as life allows me the time. Hope you enjoyed, thanks to those who reviewed.**


	29. Chapter 29: The Northern Lights

Chapter 29

 _AN: Thanks for coming back to the story. We are almost at the end. Hope you enjoy the remaining chapters. Although, if you are like me, you may need to read the previous chapter to remember what was going on, oh well, of we go!_

Their arrival in Scotland was as underwhelming as their arrival had been in Oxford. They found themselves in a small room inside a large hangar, where they could see a Lear jet.

"SG-1, how wonderful to see you again," Marjorie greeted them as she approached, looking like she wanted to hug them all. "I am so pleased you were successful in Washington."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Jack was brusque but polite, moving back slightly when it looked like the ambassador wanted to hug him. As the ambassador backed away gracefully, Jack continued in a slightly warmer tone, "And thank you for organising this end of the operation."

"No trouble at all. I have thoroughly enjoyed my role in this whole adventure. Come, I have a room set up across the hangar where we can talk and you can tell me about your next move."

Jack winced a little. It wasn't that the ambassador hadn't been helpful, but he really didn't want to run all his plans through her. However, she did seem keen on them making progress so, he assumed, she may be able to grease some wheels, so to speak. He indicated to the team to follow her and they crossed behind the jet to another room, where there were tables and chairs set up, a coffee machine that Daniel immediately gravitated towards, and some snacks that Teal'c took an interest in.

Once they'd all sat down, Marjorie took great delight in starting her briefing. "There have been many discussions over the last few days. Your military chiefs have spoken to mine and I have spoken to the Prime Minister and First Minister of Scotland and the result is that they are all willing to allow you to interview Mr Clayton. He was here, properly vetted as a civilian contractor, and they all want to know how he got through the security procedures and how he got a weapon into the hangar."

"We're interested, too," Jack spoke up. "We're also interested in checking whether there's other technology both here or in Orkney that comes from... well… out there," he said as he pointed upwards lamely and coughed.

"Again, the authorities here are interested in that, too. The stargate programme is still very much a secret here. The Prime Minister and his Defence Secretary know but the First Minister has not been read in yet. The PM would like you to be very discreet about this investigation. To that end, he has given me permission to take you to Orkney in my plane and use the small Air Force base there to avoid landing at the main airport on the Islands."

Jack grimaced again. He'd known this mission would involve politicians but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it. Shrubs always got in the way of a good military operation. "Okay, first, let's interview Andrew Clayton. Then, depending on what he gives us, when he realises that he's been abandoned by his boss, we'll see if we need to visit Orkney."

"But, Jack..." Daniel interrupted, "We're so close! I need to at least verify Marko's research."

"We'll see, Daniel," Jack replied sternly. Did the man still not understand the chain of command? "Carter, take Teal'c and interview Clayton. Any of your spidery senses relating to a Goa'uld come up, zat him and get in touch. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Daniel, you and I will have a look through the hangar that was bombed and see what we can find." He turned back to Marjorie. "Ma'am, if you could lead us to the correct place, I suppose we should check in with the Commander first. It'd be the right thing to do."

"Of course, Colonel. If you would all follow me, we can get you started straight away. I suggest you leave most of your weapons here in my plane. They will come to no harm but will not be permitted on the base."

They left the hangar, and their weapons, much to Jack's annoyance but, as Daniel pointed out, they would never let foreign military into the SGC with their weapons so it's no surprise that they'd be expected to leave theirs.

Once introductions had been completed with the Commander, Sam and Teal'c followed an escort to the prison block, while Jack and Daniel, along with Marjorie and a soldier assigned by the Commander, went to the destroyed hangar.

SGCSGCSGCSGC

Sam and Teal'c stepped into the small room and faced the man who'd tried to kill the Colonel. He was a small, tubby, middle-aged man who looked absolutely terrified, in particular when he spotted Teal'c behind Sam. Sam and Teal'c looked at each other and communicated without words. This could be easier than they'd thought.

"Mr Clayton," Sam addressed the man as she moved slightly closer to him. "We're interviewing you about your involvement in the explosion here last week."

Sam sat down and then looked at Teal'c, who'd taken up position at the door alongside the sergeant who was accompanying them. She shook her head at him and he acknowledged her signal. This man, if he'd had a Goa'uld previously, certainly didn't have one now.

Sam turned back to the man. "Mr Clayton, you're under arrest by the Royal Air Force and are being held on charges related to national security, both in this country and the United States. As such, you're under military rule and not entitled to a civilian lawyer. Do you understand what I've just explained to you?" Getting no response from the terrified man, Sam leaned forward and repeated the question, this time more forcefully. "Mr Clayton, do you understand what I've just explained to you?" At the man's slight nod, Sam sat back and continued.

"Your name has been linked to this attack by an informer who has definitive evidence that you were sent here to not only destroy the hangar but to use that explosion to kill a member of the US Air Force. Your boss has abandoned you and is not likely to return to save you, given that she left you here more than 12 hours ago." Sam paused and watched as the man got paler. Clearly, he hadn't been aware of that part. "Do you wish to say anything that may help you avoid the harsh punishment that comes with treason against your country?" Sam figured she might as well let him have it. He looked like he was about to crack.

Clayton squirmed in his seat. He quickly glanced at Teal'c before looking back at Sam. "How... how do I know you're telling the truth?"

Sam smiled and spoke to the Sergeant "Does the TV work?"

"Yes, Ma'am." The Sergeant walked over to the corner of the room and reached for the remote.

"What news channels do you have here in the UK?"

"Sky or the BBC, Ma'am."

"Turn on whichever one is reporting what's been going on in the last couple of days in D.C."

The airman turned on the TV and then turned to the appropriate channel. Sam allowed Clayton to read the news and listen to the reporter telling the world about the late-night military incursion into the White House. Obviously, they didn't have the real story, and there was far too much speculation for Sam's liking, but it got the point over.

"As you can see, Mr Clayton, the situation in the White House is under control. Mr Martin, who we know was in touch with you, has been freed from his Goa'uld prison, and Sarah Gardiner has left."

"But they promised me money and a position of influence in the future if I found the artefact and set the explosion," Clayton spluttered.

Sam shrugged, not allowing any emotion to show on her face, but internally relieved that it had only been common greed that had pushed the man to do as he had and not knowledge of their enemy. "What artefact did you find?"

"I didn't." Clayton sighed. "She wasn't happy with that, I can tell you. I searched through everything that had been transported here from Orkney but what she described wasn't here."

"What did it look like?"

"She said it would be a cylinder, quite small, maybe the size of a larger fizzy juice bottle. It would be brightly coloured, lit up if it was working, dull if not, but I couldn't find anything like that."

"Okay, so you didn't find it, but that doesn't explain why you had to destroy the hangar. Was that with the sole purpose of killing the Colonel?"

"Look, I don't know anything about killing a colonel," Clayton said defensively. "I was just told to set the explosion to go off in the middle of the night. I even tried to make sure that all the personnel were out of there."

"Okay, so, if the artefact wasn't there and you weren't trying to kill anybody, why did they want you to do it?"

"I was told there was something dangerous among the things that were brought from Orkney, that I was saving my country by getting rid of it!" Clayton said defiantly.

"I suspect that to be a lie, Major Carter," Teal'c spoke for the first time.

"No, that's what she told me!" Clayton cried out.

"He doesn't mean you're lying. He means that she was," Sam explained, considering Teal'c's statement. She turned to her team mate. "You mean that if there was something dangerous, she'd be more likely to either want it or leave it than to destroy it?" Teal'c nodded in agreement.

Sam continued to look at Teal'c for a moment, thinking, then turned back to their prisoner. "You clearly had contact with Sarah Gardiner and the White House. Was anyone else involved in the operation here?"

Clayton squirmed even more.

"Let me remind you that the more you do to help yourself, the better your future will be."

Clayton thought for a moment then sighed and sank back in his chair, seeming to give up. "I was told that some people had been sent to get your colonel but I had no contact with them."

Sam jumped on this. "So, you did know about the Colonel?"

"Well, only that he was to be escorted here. But I didn't know he was supposed to be in the hangar when it exploded."

Teal'c moved forward, towards the table. "If we find you have concealed anything during this conversation, I will be most displeased."

Clayton gulped as he looked up at the man towering over him. "No, no, I admit to setting the explosive and speaking to the woman and the man in Washington, and that they told me what to do, but I didn't know anything else. I swear!"

Sam nodded and stood up to leave. She looked at Teal'c and then they both turned and left the room, leaving Clayton sweating. The sergeant followed them out and, as he turned to close the door, Sam turned to Teal'c and said quietly, "Well, that explains why Osiris left him. He knew nothing and could tell us nothing about her operation and could take all the blame. A perfect patsy for her, as the Colonel would say."

"Indeed."

"Oh well, he isn't our problem anymore." Sam turned to the Sergeant. "Sergeant, can you ensure he's secured? Your commander can take the prosecution from here."

"Yes, Ma'am. The airman radioed for further back up to secure the room.

Once they arrived, Sam took a final look at the man who had nearly killed the Colonel and mentally shook herself. He'd survived and she needed to remember that. Turning to Teal'c, she spoke firmly.

"Right, let's go find Daniel and the Colonel, see if they've found anything. Sergeant, can you take us to the rest of our team?"

"Yes, Ma'am, it's this way, across the base."

SGCSGCSGCSGC

 _Author's Note: Thank you so much for sticking with me on this, you will be pleased to hear that as of today the story is done. My beta reader has made the final changes and it should all be with you this week. Enjoy._


	30. Chapter 30: Digging for treasure

Chapter 30

 _AN: And onward we go – artefacts to find. Thanks for continuing to read._

Following the sergeant, Teal'c and Sam made their way across the base very quickly to the burnt-out hangar, that was all that was left after the explosion.

"Please take one of these hard hats, Ma'am, Sir," the Sergeant said as he picked two up from a shelf just outside the door and handed it to the two team mates before donning one himself. Sam, and a very reluctant Teal'c, obliged the man and then followed him into the hangar.

"Wow, it must have been some explosion!" Sam exclaimed, looking around. The majority of the shell of the building was gone. Actually, only the two ends remained fully intact. The explosion had clearly ripped straight through the metal hangars. "I doubt they've found anything here, Teal'c."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed as he also looked around at all the destruction. His attention was caught by movement at the other end of the hangar and Sam gave him a questioning look.

"What is it, Teal'c?"

"Colonel O'Neill is beyond the debris. I can see him talking with someone."

"Is it Daniel?"

"Of that I am uncertain."

Sam looked back into the gloom of the remaining structure and indicated for Teal'c to lead the way. They were soon met by the sounds of their arguing team mates.

"I said NO, Daniel!"

"But, Jack, there must be something here, or why would Osi… she want it destroyed?"

"Hi, Sir!" Sam called out brightly when she noticed that Jack was about to launch himself at Daniel in front of international witnesses.

"Carter! Thank God!" Jack turned from his annoying teammate to face the other two. "What did Clayton have to say for himself?"

"That he set the explosion, was to look for an artefact, couldn't find it, and that there was supposed to be something dangerous here. But Teal'c's convinced he was misinformed about that," Sam finished quickly, trying to calm her CO.

"You sure, T?"

Teal'c nodded. "Indeed. As Dr Jackson surmised previously, the explosion was not powerful enough to have included a strong power source."

"Okay. Well, this is a bust. Anything that could've been useful has been incinerated!" Jack scoffed and then kicked a random box.

"So, we have the bomber. Now we head to Orkney?" Daniel asked expectantly.

"Daniel..." Jack growled, "So help me... If you don't stop asking…"

"Sir," Sam interrupted, "I'm going to take a look around with Teal'c, see if any of the debris is of interest."

Jack immediately snapped back behind his mask and calmly replied, "Very good, Major. Just a brief look, though. I don't want to be here all day... Understood?"

"Yes, Sir." Sam turned and made her way through the warehouse with Teal'c by her side. She didn't know what she was looking for but, as she got closer to the back, she could feel it.

"Major Carter!" Teal'c whispered.

"I know, Teal'c. I can sense it, too."

"Sir, you need to come over here," Sam called out.

Jack quickly headed over to Sam, with Daniel, the two escorting airmen, and Marjorie following.

"What'cha got, Carter?" Jack asked when he reached her.

Sam, recognising the presence of those not read in on the Stargate program, motioned him closer and whispered, "Naquada. I can sense it."

"Okay." Jack turned to the Sergeant. "I'm gonna need this area sealed off so my team can investigate the debris here. Everyone out. We don't know what we're dealing with."

The Sergeant looked at him sceptically. They'd all been around the hangar for days and nothing had happened to them. But he knew an order when he heard it.

"Yes, Sir. I'll inform the Commander and seal off the area." He walked away to radio his superior, leaving SG-1 and Marjorie.

"So, what do you think it could be, Carter?" Jack asked.

"Well, it's hard to say. I can't even determine size as the feeling I get exactly is always exactly the same no matter what the size."

"Well, that's unhelpful," Jack scoffed.

Getting a little annoyed, Sam spoke quietly but firmly. "It's not an exact science, Sir. I don't even understand why I can sense the material, never mind how to hone the sense."

"Sorry, Carter. It's been a long week."

"I know, Sir. Best thing will be to just sift through the debris." She smiled at him, aware that it had, indeed, been a long week and joked, "Daniel should be helpful for that. It's like one of his digs."

"Ah... but debris, not rocks." Jack chuckled at his own joke.

"Yes, Sir."

"Okay, let's get started." He checked that the only civilian around was Marjorie and motioned for Daniel and Teal'c to come towards the pile. "We're going to move this pile one piece at a time, allowing Carter and Teal'c to analyse it. No matter what it looks like, if they get a tingly sense, we bag it."

Slowly but surely, they worked their way through the pile of mangled metal and wood. They were about two thirds through when Sam suddenly reached out her hand.

"Wait, Daniel, that's it."

Daniel stared down at what he could only describe as a piece of scrap metal with broken glass around the edge. "Are you sure?" He turned it over in his hand. It was nothing to look at. The ragged edge of the metal did suggest it had been part of something bigger but, as he handed it over to Sam, he really wasn't sure they were on the right track.

SG-1 all stood around Sam as she held the metal. "I feel it, too, Major Carter," Teal'c said quietly.

"It's strange," Sam said, as she carefully turned the bit of metal this way and that, looking at every side and every edge. "It doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary but there's something… amazing about it."

Jack did a double take, as did Daniel. That certainly wasn't the word he'd use to describe this small, broken, twisted piece of… He decided not to finish that sentence for fear that he'd actually vocalise his thoughts and really annoy Carter, which is something he really didn't want to do. "Well, it looks broken, so maybe there's more to come. Bag it up, Carter. It can all come back to the SGC with us."

As they continued going through the debris over the next hour, they pulled out several more pieces that gave Sam and Teal'c _that_ feeling. By the time they'd reached the end of the pile, they had quite a collection of twisted black metal, clear glass, and small shards of coloured glass.

"I think these were crystals, Sir, like the ones that power the Goa'uld ships."

"So, the power source was here," Jack stated the obvious. They now had the answers they were looking for. There had been a powerful weapon in Orkney, like Marko had suggested, but it had been destroyed.

"I would say so, Sir. I suppose we can only be grateful that it wasn't powered. If it had been, we might have lost a lot more than just a hangar here."

Jack turned around and wiped his hand down his face. "Okay, let's take all the pieces and head home."

"But, Jack, what about Orkney?" Daniel asked, although he knew it was a long shot.

"Not happening, Daniel. There's nothing for us there."

"But surely its worth a look?"

"Daniel, from what I understand, this ring is pretty famous, yes?"

"Well, yes. If Marko was correct, then the ring is probably one of the most famous things about Orkney, you know…"

"So," Jack interrupted an obvious lecture, "As a famous landmark, people would be likely to notice, say, a whole bunch of military folk digging it up."

"I guess..."

"So, logically, even if we went to Orkney, we probably wouldn't even get close to where we'd need to be."

"Sir, I think we could get close, just not as... well... a bunch of military folk but... say... as tourists. It's only a couple of hours north of here by plane. We could be there and back by tonight. We should be able to sense something, even if it's below ground."

Jack looked at the eager scientist half of his team and their expectant faces and sighed. "I'm not gonna win this one, am I?"

"Indeed not, O'Neill," Teal'c answered, knowing that his usually strong CO was unlikely to go against both Dr Jackson and Major Carter.

"Well," Jack sighed, "Since I know the RAF won't give us a ride without orders..." He looked from his team to where Marjorie was standing. He was desperately trying to think of another option when Daniel, knowing he'd got his way, jumped in. "We don't need them, not when we have our own UK ambassador to call on."

Jack tried to put up a defence against the obvious. "No way! Not happening!" he stated emphatically.

"Oh, come on, Jack," Daniel whined. "I get that you don't want to file a flight plan with our name on it but really, the plane's just there and she's been pretty good throughout this whole thing."

"But she'll want to come," Jack complained, this time causing Sam to lose her usual military composure and she started to giggle. "Don't you start," Jack snapped at her.

"Sorry, Sir." Sam pulled it together but couldn't stop her eyes twinkling at the look of resignation on her boss' face.

"Fine, I'll ask, but if she says no, then that's the end of it."

 _AN: the adventure is almost over, one more trip to go. Final chapter tomorrow_


	31. Chapter 31: An end with a twist

Chapter 31

 _And the final chapter is finally here. I'm so sorry it took over a year to get it to you. I had hoped that the muse would return quicker than it did. Thanks to my beta reader for the improvements she made. And thanks to you all for reading and reviewing. It was really appreciated._

Jack stomped across the heather landscape, trying to decide which of his scientists he'd punish first. He took a glance behind him, for all that was worth. He could make out nothing but the slight shape of the next team mate in line. It could be either Daniel or Carter, as the only thing he could tell was the bulk and it was definitely not Teal'c. He decided he'd never listen to them again, and certainly wouldn't be swayed by angelic curious scientist faces.

They'd arrived in Orkney, nice and quietly and, thanks to Marjorie's connections, had found themselves a vehicle to take them to this large field, but it would be great if he could actually see it. During the journey, Daniel had proudly shown them all pictures of a magnificent ring of large standing stones that could be seen for miles. Trudging across the fog-shrouded moors in the cold and drizzle, Jack silently scoffed as he thought of them. Yeah, easy to see when there was no wind, no rain and no mist. He thought that the only way they'd find the stones was if they were lucky enough to actually bump into them.

The wind whipped around Jack, now with even stronger gusts, each one making his knee ache as he braced himself against them, head down against the wind. He looked up through the rainy mist, hoping to see something, and finally saw the first of the stones they were searching for. Jack stopped and waited for his team to join him. Oh, and Marjorie and her assistant, too, of course. He turned and watched as first Daniel appeared out of the gloom, followed by Sam, the two civilians, and finally Teal'c, who'd been bringing up the rear. Actually, one look at Marjorie really perked Jack up. It was rare for someone to be having a worse day than him.

"Right, Teal'c, Carter, spread out, pick a direction, follow the stones, and see if you feel anything. Get in touch on the radio if you do. Daniel, you can go either way but I swear, if you go off on one of your tangents and get lost out here, I'm leaving without you."

Daniel groused, but then chose to accompany Teal'c.

"Ambassador, you're welcome to accompany anyone but please stick with someone so we all get back in one piece."

"Very good, Colonel. We'll go with the Major, if she's happy with that."

Sam smiled, the way you do when the brass is asking you to do something you think is totally crazy. "Of course, Ma'am, this way."

Jack watched as the two groups set off. "I'll… watch the perimeter!" he shouted. Might as well stay put or, knowing his luck, he'd be the one to get lost and there'd be no living with Daniel if that happened.

Minutes passed and there wasn't a peep on the radio. As the silence continued on the fog-shrouded moors, Jack started to believe that his team had entered some kind of door like in Narnia. Then, after what seemed to Jack like an eternity, Teal'c and Daniel finally came into view.

"Anything?" Jack shouted.

"Nothing, Jack," Daniel replied, obviously disappointed. "We passed Sam and she's coming around the other way but no, we don't think there's anything here."

"Lovely! So, I'm soaking wet for nothing?"

"Indeed," Teal'c stated emphatically, with a very aggravated look on his usually impassive face.

Jack clicked his radio. "Carter, speed it up. I need to go home."

There was no answer.

"Carter, come in!" Jack was already moving before the radio crackled to life.

"Sir..." The quiet voice was enough to push all three men into a run. They followed the stones, hoping to spot Carter on the way. They were almost a quarter of the way around when they spotted her, and Jack was suddenly glad of the gloom and the rain to cover their approach. He stopped and signalled that they hit the ground. Teal'c followed straight away, pulling Daniel down with him.

"Daniel! Oh, Daniel!" Sarah's singsong voice carried across the hillside. "I know you're here!"

"I have your lovely teammate here, and two… unimportant people… Which shall I shoot first?"

"Crap," Jack gave voice to the others' thoughts.

"What do we do?" Daniel asked, not wanting to have to make that choice.

"Find out what she wants." Jack sighed and almost got up when Teal'c pulled him back down.

"O'Neill, it is possible she does not know you are here. She could not see you with the communications ball in the White House and the Goa'uld believed we were dead."

"Teal'c's right. She knew I was alive as I spoke to her through the ball, and she'll have obviously seen Sam and probably Teal'c, but I doubt she knows that you're still alive. In fact, as far as we know, she believes you were killed in the explosion."

"Okay, distract her, get her to talk. Either convince her that we don't have what she wants, which we don't, or let me get close enough to disable her. Teal'c, find a good position, keep Carter in your sights and, if you have to, take Osiris out."

Daniel gasped.

"It's only a last resort, Daniel. If Teal'c has to choose between her and Carter, he's choosing Carter, okay?"

"Okay, but Teal'c..."

"I will endeavour to save both women. You have my word, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel nodded shouted, "Sarah!" He tried to get her attention while Jack and Teal'c headed off, under cover of fog, to get as close as they dared to Osiris.

"Do not address me that way. You will speak to me the way you should speak to a God."

All of SG-1 had to smother a laugh at that one but Daniel continued, trying to keep the peace. "Okay, Osiris, what does our _God_ wish?"

"The power source, Daniel. I want what you have come for. Where is it?"

"It's not here. It was in the explosion, on the mainland."

"Lies! My spy told me he had checked and that it was never there."

Daniel had lost sight of Teal'c, and could barely see Jack as he edged through the heather towards Osiris, but managed to see when Jack gave the signal. He quickly stood up so that Osiris could see him.

"No. He just couldn't find it in all the rubbish."

"Lies."

"Look, Osiris, I'm not sure why you think I'd lie about this. If we had it, we would've gone back to the States, but we came here. Now, you can check for yourself, but Teal'c says he can't sense anything here. We found fragments back in the hangar that was blown up. It was destroyed in the explosion."

Osisris pointed her weapon at Daniel. "This could be a ruse."

"Well, it's a really strange one since we thought you'd gone and we hadn't been looking for you for days."

At this Osiris faltered and was distracted enough. Jack launched himself out of the heather behind her and knocked her forward, her weapon falling almost at Carter's feet. Sam quickly grabbed it and stood over Osiris. They were all about to make a grab for the false God when she vanished in front of them.

"I hate it when they do that!" Jack groused.

"Is it over? Can we come out now?" Jack groaned as Marjorie's high-pitched voice could be heard from behind one of the large stones.

"Yes, Ma'am. I think it's time to go home, don't you think?" Jack looked at the ambassador, who looked more bedraggled than she had before, and her ever smart looking assistant looked even worse. He actually took pity on them. "Teal'c, help the ambassador to the SUV. Kids, it's time to go home."

Jack turned and saw Daniel still staring at the place where Sarah had been lying. "We'll get her back, Danny, I promise."

Daniel looked at him. He knew Jack would do everything in his power to get back the person he'd allowed to be taken. "I know, Jack."

"C'mon, we'll get the ambassador to her plane and then catch a stone ride home. There's nothing for us here. If we're lucky, there might still be pie at the commissary."

Sam laughed as they trudged back the way they'd come. "Maybe Dad will be back."

"Yup!" Jack agreed, before adding grouchily, "Hey, is anyone else a bit angry that we saved the President, stopped an attack, got shot at multiple times, and no one in the rest of the world will ever know what happened?"

"It's what we signed up for, Sir."

"Oh, I know. Just sometimes it'd be good to feel… rewarded."

"You don't want another medal, do you, Jack? Your chest can't hold the ones you have already," Daniel joked.

Jack sighed. "Medal… money… Simpsons DVD... You know, just something to know that we're valued."

"I believe General Hammond said the Chairman was very grateful, O'Neill."

"Besides," Sam chirped up, "We get to do this again tomorrow!"

"Aarrgggghhhh, Carter! Could you not be quite so happy to throw us into the jaws of death?"

"I think that's the motto the SGC has been missing Jack," Daniel mused, "We throw ourselves into the jaws of death to protect Earth."

Jack turned to Teal'c. "I'm surrounded by cheerful scientists who love to explore in the rain!"

"Well, look on the bright side, Jack," Daniel said as he grinned. "This place is one of the few fertile places in the world where you're not going to be bothered by a lot of trees."

Jack stopped. He hadn't really thought about it. "Huh! Who'd 'a thunk it? And we didn't even have to leave our own planet!"

"Let's go home, Sir," Sam suggested. "Like you always say, we've saved the world this week. Who knows, it might be even more exciting next week!"

Jack glanced at him team. They were the best and they did save the world, a lot even if to the world the three events that had started this adventure seemed to be completely unconnected. He smiled at his friends. "To OZ," he stated happily, and followed them towards their car and their next adventure.

 _AN: So that's that folks. All done. Hope you enjoyed the end. It's been a long ride so thanks for sticking with it. I have one more story ready to come and perhaps another one to work on. Hopefully the muse will stick with me this time._


End file.
